\\K-UNIVERjyA        ^lOS-ANCElfju  ^-UBRARYQc 

»-«  ^         ^      ^^  •>•_  .'•?   ^  ^»<    i 


I 


A\tf-OHIVERS//j 


.v-inS-ANf.fi/-r. 


^OF-CAL!FO% 

ee  a  /  ^»  A  c 

V      =ir 


it  lion  «  nv  /^ 


me  i.irri  r- 


VICTORIOUS  GENERALS 
General  Foch,  Commander-in-Chief  oi  all  Allied  forces.  General  Pershing,  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  the  American  armies.  Field  Marshal  Haig.  head  of  the  British 
armies.  General  d'Esperey  (French)  to  whom  Bulgaria  surrendered.  General  Diaz, 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Italian  armies.  General  Marshall  (British),  head  of  the 
Mesopotamian  expedition.  General  Allenby  (British),  who  redeemed  Palestine  from 
the  'Turks .  — 


HISTORY  OF  THE 

WORLD    WAR 

An  Authentic  Narrative  of 
The  World's  Greatest  War 


By  FRANCIS  A.  MARCH,  Ph.D. 

In  Collaboration  with 
RICHARD  J.  BEAMISH 


Special  War  Correspondent 
and  Military  Analyst 


With  an  Introduction 

By  GENERAL  PEYTON  C.  MARCH 

Chief  of  Staff  of  the  United  States  Army 


Illustrated  with  Reproductions  from 
the  Official  Photographs  of  the  United 
States,  British  and  French  Governments 


PUBLISHED  FOR 

THE  UNITED  PUBLISHERS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA 

PHILADELPHIA  CHICAGO  TORONTO 

1919 


COPYRIGHT,  1918 
FRANCIS  A.  MARCH 

This  history  is  an  original  work  and  is  fully 
protected  by  the  copyright  laws,  including  the 
right  of  translation.  AH  persons  are  warned 
against  reproducing  the  text  in  whole  or  in 
part  without  the  permission  of  the  publishers. 


WAR    DEPARTMENT, 
OFFICE  OF  THE  CHIEF  OF  STAFF, 

WASHINGTON. 


NOVEMBER  14,  1918. 

With  the  signing  of  the  Armistice  on  November  11,  1918,  the 
World  War  has  been  practically  brought  to  an  end.  The  events  of 
the  past  four  years  have  been  of  such  magnitude  that  the  various 
steps,  the  numberless  battles,  and  the  growth  of  Allied  power  which 
led  up  to  the  final  victory  are  not  clearly  defined  even  in  the  minds 
of  many  military  men.  A  history  of  this  great  period  which  will 
state  in  an  orderly  fashion  this  series  of  events  will  be  of  the  greatest 
value  to  the  future  students  of  the  war,  and  to  everyone  of  the 
present  day  who  desires  to  refer  in  exact  terms  to  matters  which  led 
up  to  the  final  conclusion. 

The  war  will  be  discussed  and  re-discussed  from  every  angle  and 
the  sooner  such  a  compilation  of  facts  is  available,  the  more  valuable 
it  will  be.  I  understand  that  this  History  of  the  World  War  intends 
to  put  at  the  disposal  of  all  who  are  interested,  such  a  compendium  of 
facts  of  the  past  period  of  over  four  years;  and  that  the  system 
employed  in  safeguarding  the  accuracy  of  statements  contained  in  it 
will  produce  a  document  of  great  historical  value  without  entering 
upon  any  speculative  conclusions  as  to  cause  and  effect  of  the  various 
phases  of  the  war  or  attempting  to  project  into  an  historical  document 
individual  opinions.  With  these  ends  in  view,  this  History  will  be  of 
the  greatest  value. 


General, 

Chief  of  Staff, 

United  States  Army. 


2223231 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I.    A  WAR  FOR  INTERNATIONAL  FREEDOM  PAOT 

A  Conflict  that  was  Inevitable — The  Flower  of  Manhood  on  the  Fields  of 
France — Germany's  Defiance  to  the  World — Heroic  Belgium — Four  Auto- 
cratic Nations  against  Twenty-four  Committed  to  the  Principles  of  Liberty — 
America's  Titanic  Effort — Four  Million  Men  Under  Arms,  Two  Million 
Overseas — France  the  Martyr  Nation — The  British  Empire's  Tremendous 
Share  in  the  Victory — A  River  of  Blood  Watering  the  Desert  of  Autocracy  19 

CHAPTER  II.     THE  WORLD  SUDDENLY  TURNED  UPSIDE  DOWN 

The  War  Storm  Breaks — Trade  and  Commerce  Paralyzed — Homeward  Rush 
f  Travelers — Harrowing  Scenes  as  Ships  Sail  for  America — Stock  Markets 
Closed— The  Tide  of  Desolation  Following  in  the  Wake  of  War 33 

CHAPTER  III.    WHY  THE  WORLD  WENT  TO  WAR 

The  Balkan  Ferment — Russia,  the  Dying  Giant  Among  Autocracies — Turkey 
the  "Sick  Man"  of  Europe — Scars  Left  by  the  Balkan  War — Germany's 
Determination  to  Seize  a  Place  in  the  Sun 44 

CHAPTER  IV.    THE  PLOTTER  BEHIND  THE  SCENES 

The  Assassination  at  Sarajevo — The  Slavic  Ferment — Austria's  Domineering 
Note — The  Plotters  of  Potsdam — The  Mailed  Fist  of  Militarism  Beneath  the 
Velvet  Glove  of  Diplomacy — Mobilization  and  Declarations  of  War  ...  54 

CHAPTER  V.    THE  GREAT  WAR  BEGINS 

Germany  Invades  Belgium  and  Luxemburg — French  Invade  Alsace — England's 
"Contemptible  Little  Army"  Lands  in  France  and  Belgium — The  Murderous 
Gray-Green  Tide — Heroic  Retreat  of  the  British  from  Mons — Belgium  Over- 
run— Northern  France  Invaded — Marshal  Joffre  Makes  Ready  to  Strike  .  .  75 

CHAPTER  VI.    THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  BEAST  IN  BELGIUM 

Barbarities  that  Shocked  Humanity — Planned  as  Part  of  the  Teutonic  Policy 
of  SchrecJdichkeit — How  the  German  and  the  Hun  Became  Synonymous 
Terms — The  Unmatchable  Crimes  of  a  War-Mad  Army — A  Record  of  Infamy 
Written  in  Blood  and  Tears — Official  Reports 88 

CHAPTER  VII.    THE  FIRST  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE 

Joffre's  Masterly  Plan — The  Enemy  Trapped  Between  Verdun  and  Paris — 
Gallieni's  "Army  in  Taxicabs" — Foch,  the  "Savior  of  Civilization,"  Appears 
— His  Mighty  Thrust  Routs  the  Army  of  Hausen — Joffre  Salutes  Foch  as 
"First  Strategist  in  Europe" — Battle  that  Won  the  Baton  of  a  Marshal  110 

9 


10  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VIII.    JAPAN  IN  THE  WAR  PAOB 

Tsing  Tau  Seized  by  the  Mikado— German  "Gibraltar"  of  the  Far  East 
Surrendered  After  Short  Siege— Japan's  Aid  to  the  Allies  in  Money,  Ships, 
Men  and  Nurses— German  Propaganda  in  the  Far  East  Fails 120 

CHAPTER  IX.    CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  EAST 

Invasion  of  East  Prussia — Von  Hindenburg  and  Masurian  Lakes — Battle  of 
Tannenberg — Augustovo — Russians  Capture  Lemberg — The  Offer  to  Poland  126 

CHAPTER  X.    STRUGGLE  FOR  SUPREMACY  ON  THE  SEA 

The  British  Blockade — German  Raiders  and  Their  Fate — Story  of  the 
Emden's  Remarkable  Voyage — Appearance  of  the  Submarine — British  Naval 
Victory  off  Helgoland — U-9  Sinks  Three  British  Cruisers 143 

CHAPTER  XI.    THE  SUBLIME  PORTE 

Turkish  Intrigues — The  Holy  War — Mesopotamia  and  Transcaucasia — The 
Suez  Canal — Turkey  the  Catspaw  of  Germany 164 

CHAPTER  XII.    RESCUE  OF  THE  STARVING 

Famine  in  Belgium — Belgium  Relief  Commission  Organized  in  London — 
Herbert  C.  Hoover — American  Aid — The  Great  Cardinal's  Famous  Challenge  181 

CHAPTER  XIII.    BRITANNIA  RULES  THE  WAVES 

German  and  British  Squadrons  Grapple  off  the  Chilean  Coast — Germany 
Wins  the  First  Round — England  Comes  Back  with  Terrific  Force — Graphic 
Picture  of  the  Destruction  of  the  German  Squadron  off  Falkland  Islands — 
English  Coast  Towns  Bombarded  for  the  First  Time  in  Many  Years  .  .  .  201 

CHAPTER  XIV.    NEW  METHODS  AND  HORRORS  OF  WARFARE 

Tanks — Poison  Gas — Flame  Projectors — Airplane  Bombs — Trench  Mortars — 
Machine  Guns — Modern  Uses  of  Airplanes  for  Liaison  and  Attacks  on  Infantry 
— Radio — Rifle  and  Hand  Grenades — A  War  of  Intensive  Artillery  Prepara- 
tion— A  Debacle  of  Insanities,  Terrible  Wounds  and  Horrible  Deaths  .  .  .  217 

CHAPTER  XV.    GERMAN  PLOTS  AND  PROPAGANDA  IN  AMERICA 

Trailing  the  German  Plotters — Destruction  of  Ships — Pressure  on  Congress — 
Attacks  in  Canada — Zimmerman's  Foolish  Effort  to  Embroil  America  with 
Mexico  and  Japan — Lies  of  the  Propagandists  After  America  Entered  the 
War — Dumba,  Von  Bernstorff,  Von  Papen  and  Boy-Ed,  a  quartet  of  Unscru- 
pulous Destructionists 231 

CHAPTER  XVI.    SINKING  OF  THE  LUSITANIA 

The  Submarine  Murderers  at  Work — Germany's  Blackhand  Warning — No 
Chance  for  Life — The  Ship  Unarmed  and  Without  Munitions — The  Presi- 
dent's Note — Germany's  Lying  Denials — Coroner's  Inquest  Charges  Kaiser 
with  Wilful  Murder — "Remember  the  Lusitania"  One  of  America's  Big 
Reasons  for  Declaring  War 247 


CONTENTS  11 

CHAPTER  XVII.    NEUVE   CHAPELLE   AND   WAR  IN   BLOOD-  PAQII 
SOAKED  TRENCHES 

War  Amid  Barbed-Wire  Entanglements  and  the  Desolation  of  No  Man's 
Land — Subterranean  Tactics  Continuing  Over  Four  Years — Attacks  that 
Cost  Thousands  of  Lives  for  Every  Foot  of  Gain 265 

CHAPTER  XVIII.    STEADFAST  SOUTH  AFRICA 

Botha  and  Smuts,  Rocks  of  Loyalty  Amid  a  Sea  of  Treachery — Civil  War 
that  Ended  with  the  Drowning  of  General  Beyers  and  the  Arrest  of  General 
De  Wet — Conquest  of  German  Colonies — Trail  of  the  Hun  in  the  Jungle  .  280 

CHAPTER  XIX.    ITALY  DECLARES  WAR  ON  AUSTRIA 

Her  Great  Decision — D'Annunzio,  Poet  and  Patriot — Italia  Irredenta — 
German  Indignation — The  Campaigns  on  the  Isonzo  and  in  the  Tyrol  .  .  .  287 

CHAPTER  XX.    GLORIOUS  GALLIPOLI 

A  Titanic  Enterprise — Its  Objects — Disasters  and  Deeds  of  Deathless  Glory — 
The  Heroic  Anzacs — Bloody  Dashes  up  Impregnable  Slopes — Silently  they 
Stole  Away — A  Successful  Failure 302 

CHAPTER  XXI.    THE  GREATEST  NAVAL  BATTLE  IN  HISTORY 

The  Battle  of  Jutland — Every  Factor  on  Sea  and  in  Sky  Favorable  to  the 
Germans — Low  Visibility  a  Great  Factor — A  Modern  Sea  Battle — Light 
Cruisers  Screening  Battleship  Squadron — Germans  Run  Away  when  British 
Fleet  Marshals  Its  Full  Strength — Death  of  Lord  Kitchener 311 

CHAPTER  XXII.    THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

The  Advance  on  Cracow — Von  Hindenburg  Strikes  at  Warsaw — German 
Barbarism — The  War  in  Galicia — The  Fall  of  Przemysl — Russia's  Ammuni- 
tion Fails — The  Russian  Retreat — The  Fall  of  Warsaw — Czernowitz  .  .  327 

CHAPTER  XXIII.    How  THE  BALKANS  DECIDED 

Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria  Insists  Upon  Joining  Germany — Dramatic  Scene  in 
the  King's  Palace — The  Die  is  Cast — Bulgaria  Succumbs  to  Seductions  of 
Potsdam  Gang — Greece  Mobilizes — French  and  British  Troops  at  Saloniki — 
Serbia  Over-run — Roumania's  Disastrous  Venture  hi  the  Arena  of  Mars  .  .  347 


CHAPTER  XXIV.    THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  MESOPOTAMIA 

British  Army  Threatening  Bagdad  Besieged  in  Kut-el-Amara — After  Heroic 
Defense  General  Townshend  Surrenders  After  143  Days  of  Siege — New  British 
Expedition  Recaptures  Kut — Troops  Push  on  up  the  Tigris — Fall  of  Bagdad, 
the  Magnificent 370 


12  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXV.     CANADA'S  PART  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR  PJLQB 

BY  COL.  GEORGE  G.  NASMITH,  C.  M.  G. 

Enthusiastic  Response  to  the  Call  to  Action — Valcartier  Camp  a  Splendid 
Example  of  the  Driving  Power  of  Sir  Sam  Hughes — Thirty-three  Liners  Cross 
the  Atlantic  with  First  Contingent  of  Men  and  Equipment — Largest  Convoy 
Ever  Gathered  Together — At  the  Front  with  the  Princess  Pat's — Red  Cross — 
Financial  Aid — Half  a  Million  Soldiers  Overseas — Mons,  the  Last  Stronghold 
of  the  Enemy,  Won  by  the  Men  from  Canada — A  Record  of  Glory  ....  381 

CHAPTER  XXVI.    IMMORTAL  VERDUN 

Grave  of  the  Military  Reputations  of  Von  Falkenhayn  and  the  Crown  Prince 
— Hindenburg's  Warning — Why  the  Germans  Made  the  Disastrous  Attempt 
to  Capture  the  Great  Fortress — Heroic  France  Reveals  Itself  to  the  World — 
"They  Shall  Not  Pass"— Nivelle's  Glorious  Stand  on  Dead  Man  Hill— Lord 
Northcliffe's  Description — A  Defense  Unsurpassed  in  the  History  of  France  398 

CHAPTER  XXVII.     MURDERS  AND  MARTYRS 

The  Case  of  Edith  Cavell — Nurse  Who  Befriended  the  Helpless,  Dies  at  the 
Hands  of  the  Germans — Captain  Fryatt's  Martyrdom — How  Germany  Sowed 
the  Seeds  of  Disaster 409 

CHAPTER  XXVIII.    THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OF  YPRES 

The  Canadians  in  Action — Undismayed  by  the  New  Weapon  of  the  Enemy — 
Holding  the  Line  Against  Terrific  Odds — Men  from  the  Dominion  Fight  Like 
Veterans  .  412 

CHAPTER  XXIX.    ZEPPELIN  RAIDS  ON  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

First  Zeppelin  Attack  Kills  Twenty-eight  and  Injures  Forty-four — Part  of 
Germany's  Policy  of  Frightfulness — Raids  by  German  Airplanes  on  Unforti- 
fied Towns — Killing  of  Non-Combatants — The  British  Lion  Awakes — Anti- 
Aircraft  Precautions  and  Protections — Policy  of  Terrorism  Fails  ....  417 

CHAPTER  XXX.    RED  REVOLUTION  IN  RUSSIA 

Rasputin,  the  Mystic— The  Cry  for  Bread— Rise  of  the  Council  of  Workmen's 
and  Soldiers'  Delegates — Rioting  hi  Petrograd — The  Threatening  Cloud  of 
Disaster— Moderate  Policy  of  the  Duma  Fails— The  Fatal  Easter  Week  of 
1917— Abdication  of  the  Czar— Last  Tragic  Moments  of  the  Autocrat  of  All 
the  Russias — Grand  Duke  Issues  Declaration  Ending  Power  of  Romanovs  in 
Russia — Release  of  Siberian  Revolutionists — Free  Russia 425 

CHAPTER  XXXI.    THE  DESCENT  TO  BOLSHEVISM 

Russia  Intoxicated  with  Freedom — Elihu  Root  and  His  Mission — Last 
Brilliant  Offensive  in  Galicia— The  Great  Mutiny  in  the  Army— The  Battalion 
of  Death— Kerensky's  Skyrocket  Career— Kornilov's  Revolt— Loss  of  Riga— 
Lenine,  the  Dictator — The  Impossible  "Peace"  of  Brest-Litovsk  .  438 


CONTENTS  13 

CHAPTER    XXXII.      GERMANY'S    OBJECT    LESSON    TO    THE  PAQII 
UNITED  STATES 

Two  Voyages  of  the  Deutschland — U-53  German  Submarine  Reaches  Newport 
and  Sinks  Five  British  and  Neutral  Steamers  off  Nantucket — Rescue  of 
Survivors  by  United  States  Warships — Anti-German  Feeling  in  America 
Reaching  a  Climax 459 

CHAPTER  XXXIII.    AMERICA  TRANSFORMED  BY  WAR 

The  United  States  Enters  the  Conflict — The  Efficiency  of  Democracy — Six 
Months  in  an  American  Training  Camp  Equal  to  Six  Years  of  German  Com- 
pulsory Service — American  Soldiers  and  Their  Resourcefulness  on  the  Battle- 
field—Methods of  Training  and  Their  Results— The  S.  A.  T.  C 464 

CHAPTER  XXXIV.    How  FOOD  WON  THE  WAR 

The  American  Farmer  a  Potent  Factor  in  Civilization's  Victory — Scientific 
Studies  of  Food  Production,  Distribution  and  Consumption — Hoover  Lays 
Down  the  Law  Regulating  Wholesalers  and  Grocers — Getting  the  Food  Across 
— Feeding  Armies  in  the  Field 478 

CHAPTER  XXXV.    THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY  IN  THE  WAR 

Increase  from  58,000  Men  to  Approximately  500,000 — Destroyer  Fleet  Arrives 
in  British  Waters— "We  Are  Ready  Now"— The  Hunt  of  the  U-Boats— 
Gunnery  that  is  Unrivalled — Depth  Charges  and  Other  New  Inventions — 
The  U-Boat  Menace  Removed — Surrender  of  German  Under-Sea  Navy  .  .  483 

CHAPTER  XXXVI.   CHINA  JOINS  THE  FIGHTING  DEMOCRACIES 

How  the  Germans  Behaved  in  China  Seventeen  Years  Before — The  Whirligig 
of  Time  Brings  Its  Own  Revenge — The  Far  Eastern  Republic  Joins  Hands 
with  the  Allies — German  Propaganda  at  Work — Futile  Attempt  to  Restore  the 
Monarchy — Fear  of  Japan — War — Thousands  of  Chinese  Toil  Behind  the 
Battle  Lines  hi  France— Siam  with  Its  Eight  Millions  Defies  the  Germans — 
End  of  Teuton  Influence  in  the  Orient  .  ...  498 


CHAPTER  XXXVII.    THE  DEFEAT  AND  RECOVERY  OF  ITALY 

Subtle  Socialist  Gospel  Preached  by  Enemy  Plays  Havoc  with  Guileless 
Italians — Sudden  Onslaught  of  Germans  Drives  Cadorna's  Men  from  Heights 
— The  Spectacular  Retreat  that  Dismayed  the  World — Glorious  Stand  of  the 
Italians  on  the  Piave — Rise  of  Diaz .  502 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII.    REDEMPTION  OF  THE  HOLY  LAND 

A  Long  Campaign  Progressing  Through  Hardships  to  Glory — General  Allenby 
Enters  Jerusalem  on  Foot — Turkish  Army  Crushed  in  Palestine — Battle  of 
Armageddon 506 


14  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXXIX.    AMERICA'S  TRANSPORTATION  PROBLEMS    PAQH 

Government  Ownership  of  Railroads,  Telegraphs,  Telephones — Getting  the 
Men  from  Training  Camps  to  the  Battle  Fronts — From  Texas  to  Toul — A 
Gigantic  System  Working  Without  a  Hitch 513 

CHAPTER  XL.    SHIPS  AND  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THEM 

The  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation — Charles  M.  Schwab  as  Master  Shipbuilder 
— Hog  Island  the  Wonder  Shipyard  of  the  World — An  Unbeatable  Record — 
Concrete  Ships — Wooden  Ships — Standardizing  the  Steel  Ship — Attitude  of 
Labor  in  the  War — Samuel  Gompers  an  Unofficial  Member  of  the  Cabinet — 
Great  Task  of  the  United  States  Employment  Service 520 

CHAPTER  XLI.    GERMANY'S  DYING  DESPERATE  EFFORT 

The  High  Tide  of  German  Success — An  Army  of  Six  Million  Men  Flung  Reck- 
lessly on  the  Allies — Most  Terrific  Battles  hi  all  History — The  Red  Ruin  of 
War  from  Arras  to  St.  Quentin — Amiens  Within  Arms'  Reach  of  the  Invaders 
— Paris  Bombarded  by  Long-Range  Guns  from  Distance  of  Seventy-six  Miles — 
A  Generalissimo  at  Last — Marshal  Foch  in  Supreme  Command  .  .  .  .531 

CHAPTER  XLII.    CHATEAU-THIERRY,  FIELD  OF  GLORY 

German  Wave  Stops  with  the  Americans — Prussian  Guard  Flung  Back — The 
Beginning  of  Autocracy's  End — America's  Record  of  Valor  and  Victory — 
Cantigny — Belleau  Wood — Thierry — St.  Mihiel — Shock  Troops  of  the  Enemy 
Annihilated— Soldier's  Remarkable  Letter 545 

CHAPTER  XLIII.    ENGLAND  AND  FRANCE  STRIKE  IN  THE  NORTH 

Second  Terrific  Blow  of  General  Foch— Lens,  the  Storehouse  of  Minerals, 
Captured — Bapaume  Retaken — British  Snap  the  Famous  Hindenburg  Line — 
The  Great  Thrust  Through  Cambrai— Tanks  to  the  Front — Cavalry  in  Action  563 

CHAPTER  XLIV.    BELGIUM'S  GALLANT  EFFORT 

The  Little  Army  Under  King  Albert  Thrusts  Savagely  at  the  Germans — 
Ostend  and  Zeebrugge  Freed  from  the  Submarine  Pirates — Pathetic  Scenes  as 
Belgians  are  Restored  to  Their  Homes 573 

CHAPTER  XLV.    ITALY'S  TERRIFIC  DRIVE 

Enemy  Offensive  Opens  on  Front  of  Ninety-Seven  Miles — Repulse  of  the 
Austrians — Italy  Turns  the  Tables — Terrific  Counter-Thrusts  from  the  Piave 
to  Trente— Forcing  the  Alpine  Passages— Battles  High  in  the  Air— English, 
French  and  Americans  Back  up  the  Italians  in  Humbling  the  Might  of  Austria 
— D'Annunzio's  Romantic  Bombardment  of  Vienna — Diaz  Leads  his  Men  to 
Victory 582 

CHAPTER  XLVI.    BULGARIA  DESERTS  GERMANY 

Greece  in  the  Throes  of  Revolution — Fall  of  Constantino — Serbians  Begin 
Advance  on  Bulgars — Thousands  of  Prisoners  Taken — Surrender  of  Bulgaria — 


CONTENTS  15 

PAGE 

Panic  in  Berlin — Passage  Through  the  Country  Granted  for  Armies  of  the 
Allies — Ferdinand  Abdicates — Germany's  Imagined  Mittel-Europa  Dream 
Forever  Destroyed 591 

CHAPTER  XLVII.     THE  CENTRAL  EMPIRES  WHINE  FOR  PEACE 

Austria-Hungary  Makes  the  First  Plea — President  Wilson's  Abrupt  Answer — 
Prince  Max,  Camouflaged  as  an  Apostle  of  Peace,  made  Chancellor  and  Opens 
Germany's  Pathetic  Plea  for  a  Peace  by  Negotiation — The  President  Replies 
on  Behalf  of  all  the  Allied  Powers — Foch  Pushes  on  Regardless  of  Peace  Notes .  603 

CHAPTER  XLVIII.    BATTLES  IN  THE  AIR 

Conquering  the  Fear  of  Death — From  Individual  Fights  to  Battles  Between 
Squadrons — Heroes  of  the  Warring  Nations — America's  Wonderful  Record — 
From  Nowhere  to  First  Place  in  Eighteen  Months — The  Liberty  Motor  .  .611 

CHAPTER  XLIX.    HEALTH  AND  HAPPINESS  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
FORCES 

Record  of  the  Red  Cross  on  all  Fronts — A  Gigantic  Work  Well  Executed — 
Y.  M.  C.  A. — Y.  W.  C.  A. — Knights  of  Columbus — Jewish  Welfare  Associa- 
tion— Salvation  Army — American  Library  Association — Other  Organizations — 
Surgery  and  Sanitation 622 

CHAPTER  L.    THE  PIRATES  OF  THE  UNDER-SEAS 

Germany's  Ruthless  Submarine  Policy — A  Boomerang  Destroying  the  Hand 
that  Cast  It — Terrorism  that  Failed—One  Hundred  and  Fifty  U-Boats  Sunk 
or  Captured — Shameless  Surrender  of  the  German  Submarines  and  of  the 
Fleet  They  Protected 631 

CHAPTER  LI.    APPROACHING  THE  FINAL  STAGE 

Cutting  the  Railroads  to  Cambrai — Americans  Co-operate  with  British  in 
Furious  Attack — Douai  and  St.  Quentin  Taken — The  Battle  Line  Straightened 
for  the  Last  Mighty  Assault — All  Hope  Abandoned  by  the  Kaiser.  .  .  .  640 

CHAPTER  LII.     LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  WAR 

American  Troops  Join  with  the  Allies  in  Colossal  Drive  on  71-mile  Front- 
Historic  Sedan  Taken  by  the  Yanks — Stenay,  the  Last  Battle  of  the  War — 
How  the  Opposing  Forces  Greeted  the  News  of  the  Armistice 643 

CHAPTER  LIII.     THE  DRASTIC  TERMS  OF  SURRENDER 

Handcuffs  for  Four  Nations — Bulgaria  First  to  Fly  the  White  Flag — AUenby's 
Great  Victory  Forces  Turkey  Out — Austria  Signs  Quickly — Germany's 
Capitulation  Complete  and  Humiliating 648 

CHAPTER  LIV.    PEACE  AT  LAST 

An  Unfounded  Rumor  Starts  Enormous  Jubilation — Armistice  Signed  Four 
Days  Later — Kaiser  Abdicates  and  Flees  to  Holland — Cowardly  Ruler  Seeks 


16  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Protection  of  Small  Neutral  Nation — Looking  Into  the  Future — Cost  of  War 
to  the  Nations — Liberty  Loans — Reconstruction  Problems — McAdoo  Resigns 
— American  Ideals  in  the  Old  World 660 

CHAPTER  LV.    AMERICA'S  POSITION  IN  PEACE  AND  WAR 

President  Wilson's  Stirring  Speech  in  Congress  Which  Brought  the  United 
States  into  the  War — His  Great  Speech  Before  Congress  Ending  the  War — 
The  Fourteen  Points  Outlining  America's  Demands  Before  Peace  Could  be 
Concluded — Later  Peace  Principles  Enunciated  by  the  President.  .  .  .  669 

CHAPTER  LVI.    THE  WAR  BY  YEARS 

Condensed  Word-Picture  of  the  Happenings  of  the  Most  Momentous  Fifty- 
two  Months  in  All  History — Leading  Up  to  the  Eleventh  Hour  of  the 
Eleventh  Day  of  the  Eleventh  Month  of  1918 684 

CHAPTER  LVII.    BEHIND  AMERICA'S  BATTLE  LINE 

General  March's  Story  of  the  Work  of  the  Military  Intelligence  Division — 
Of  the  War  Plans  Division — Of  the  Purchase  and  Traffic  Divisions — How  Men, 
Munitions  and  Supplies  Reached  the  Western  Front 689 

CHAPTER  LVIII.    GENERAL  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY 

The  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces  Tells  the 
Story  of  the  Magnificent  Combat  Operations  of  his  Troops  that  Defeated 
Prussia's  Legions — Official  Account  Discloses  Full  Details  of  the  Fighting .  .  701 

CHAPTER  LIX.    PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  WAR 

A  Year  in  the  Life  of  the  United  States  Crowded  with  Great  Events — Tribute 
to  the  Soldiers  and  Sailors,  the  Workers  at  Home  Who  Supplied  the  Sinews 
of  the  Great  Undertaking,  the  Women  of  the  Land  Who  Contributed  to  the 
Great  Result — The  Future  Safe  in  the  Hands  of  American  Businessmen.  .  720 

SUMMARIZED  CHRONOLOGY  OP  THE  WAR  .  .  729 


FOREWORD 

THIS  is  a  popular  narrative  history  of  the  world's  greatest 
war.     Written  frankly  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Allies,  it  visualizes  the  bloodiest  and  most 
destructive  conflict  of  all  the  ages  from  its  remote  causes 
to  its  glorious  conclusion  and  beneficent  results.      The  world- 
shaking  rise  of  new  democracies  is  set  forth,  and  the  enormous 
national  and  individual  sacrifices  producing  that  resurrection  of 
human  equality  are  detailed. 

Two  ideals  have  been  before  us  in  the  preparation  of  this 
necessary  work.  These  are  simplicity  and  thoroughness.  It  is 
of  no  avail  to  describe  the  greatest  of  human  events  if  the  descrip- 
tion is  so  confused  that  the  reader  loses  interest.  Thoroughness 
is  an  historical  essential  beyond  price.  So  it  is  that  official 
documents  prepared  hi  many  instances  upon  the  field  of  battle, 
and  others  taken  from  the  files  of  the  governments  at  war,  are 
the  basis  of  this  work.  Maps  and  photographs  of  unusual  clear- 
ness and  high  authenticity  illummate  the  text.  All  that  has 
gone  into  war  making,  into  the  regeneration  of  the  world,  are 
herein  set  forth  with  historical  particularity.  The  stark  horrors 
of  Belgium,  the  blighting  terrors  of  chemical  warfare,  the 
governmental  restrictions  placed  upon  hundreds  of  millions  of 
civilians,  the  war  sacrifices  falling  upon  all  the  civilized  peoples 
of  earth,  are  in  these  pages. 

It  is  a  book  that  mankind  can  well  read  and  treasure. 


M 


CHAPTER   I 
A  WAR  FOR  INTERNATIONAL  FREEDOM 

Y  FELLOW  COUNTRYMEN:  The  armistice  was 
signed  this  morning.  Everything  for  which  America 
fought  has  been  accomplished.  The  war  thus  comes 
to  an  end." 

Speaking  to  the  Congress  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  President  Wilson  made  this  declaration  on  November 
11,  1918.  A  few  hours  before  he  made  this  statement,  Germany, 
the  empire  of  blood  and  iron,  had  agreed  to  an  armistice, 
terms  of  which  were  the  hardest  and  most  humiliating  ever 
imposed  upon  a  nation  of  the  first  class.  It  was  the  end  of 
a  war  for  which  Germany  had  prepared  for  generations,  a  war 
bred  of  a  philosophy  that  Might  can  take  its  toll  of  earth's 
possessions,  of  human  lives  and  liberties,  when  and  where  it 
will.  That  philosophy  involved  the  cession  to  imperial  Germany 
of  the  best  years  of  young  German  manhood,  the  training  of 
German  youths  to  be  killers  of  men.  It  involved  the  creation 
of  a  military  caste,  arrogant  beyond  all  precedent,  a  caste  that 
set  its  strength  and  pride  against  the  righteousness  of  democracy, 
against  the  possession  of  wealth  and  bodily  comforts,  a  caste  that 
visualized  itself  as  part  of  a  power-mad  Kaiser's  assumption  that 
he  and  God  were  to  shape  the  destinies  of  earth. 

When  Marshal  Foch,  the  foremost  strategist  in  the  world, 
representing  the  governments  of  the  Allies  and  the  United  States, 
delivered  to  the  emissaries  of  Germany  terms  upon  which  they 
might  surrender,  he  brought  to  an  end  the  bloodiest,  the  most 
destructive  and  the  most  beneficent  war  the  world  has  known. 
It  is  worthy  of  note  in  this  connection  that  the  three  great  wars 
in  which  the  United  States  of  America  engaged  have  been  wars  for 
freedom.  The  Revolutionary  War  was  for  the  liberty  of  the 
colonies;  the  Civil  War  was  waged  for  the  freedom  of  manhood 
and  for  the  principle  of  the  indissolubility  of  the  Union;  the  World 
War,  beginning  1914,  was  fought  for  the  right  of  small  nations  to 

2  19 


20  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

self-government  and  for  the  right  of  every  country  to  the  free 
use  of  the  high  seas. 

More  than  four  million  American  men  were  under  arms  when 
the  conflict  ended.  Of  these,  more  than  two  million  were  upon 
the  fields  of  France  and  Italy.  These  were  thoroughly  trained 
in  the  military  art.  They  had  proved  their  right  to  be  considered 
among  the  most  formidable  soldiers  the  world  has  known. 
Against  the  brown  rock  of  that  host  in  khaki,  the  flower  of 
German  savagery  and  courage  had  broken  at  Chateau-Thierry. 
There  the  high  tide  of  Prussian  militarism,  after  what  had  seemed 
to  be  an  irresistible  dash  for  the  destruction  of  France,  spent 
itself  in  the  bloody  froth  and  spume  of  bitter  defeat.  There  the 
Prussian  Guard  encountered  the  Marines,  the  Iron  Division  and 
the  other  heroic  organizations  of  America's  new  army.  There 
German  soldiers  who  had  been  hardened  and  trained  under 
German  conscription  before  the  war,  and  who  had  learned  new 
arts  in  their  bloody  trade,  through  their  service  in  the  World  War, 
met  their  masters  in  young  Americans  taken  from  the  shop, 
the  field,  and  the  forge,  youths  who  had  been  sent  into  battle 
with  a  scant  six  months'  intensive  training  in  the  art  of  war. 
Not  only  did  these  American  soldiers  hold  the  German  onslaught 
where  it  was  but,  in  a  sudden,  fierce,  resistless  counter-thrust 
they  drove  back  in  defeat  and  confusion  the  Prussian  Guard,  the 
Pommeranian  Reserves,  and  smashed  the  morale  of  that  German 
division  beyond  hope  of  resurrection. 

The  news  of  that  exploit  sped  from  the  Alps  to  the  North 
Sea  Coast,  through  all  the  camps  of  the  Allies,  with  incredible 
rapidity.  "The  Americans  have  held  the  Germans.  They  can 
fight,"  ran  the  message.  New  life  came  into  the  war-weary 
ranks  of  heroic  poilus  and  into  the  steel-hard  armies  of  Great 
Britain.  "The  Americans  are  as  good  as  the  best.  There  are 
millions  of  them,  and  millions  more  are  coming,"  was  heard  on 
every  side.  The  transfusion  of  American  blood  came  as  magic 
tonic,  and  from  that  glorious  day  there  was  never  a  doubt  as  to 
the  speedy  defeat  of  Germany.  From  that  day  the  German 
retreat  dated.  The  armistice  signed  on  November  11,  1918,  was 
merely  the  period  finishing  the  death  sentence  of  German  mili- 
tarism, the  first  word  of  which  was  uttered  at  Chateau-Thierry. 

Germany's  defiance   to   the   world,   her    determination   to 


A  WAR  FOR  INTERNATIONAL  FREEDOM 


force  her  will  and  her  "kultur"  upon  the  democracies  of  earth, 
produced  the  conflict.  She  called  to  her  aid  three  sister  autoc- 
racies: Turkey,  a  land  ruled  by  the  whims  of  a  long  line  of 
moody  misanthropic  monarchs;  Bulgaria,  the  traitor  nation  cast 
by  its  Teutonic  king  into  a  war  in  which  its  people  had  no  choice 
and  little  sympathy;  Austria-Hungary,  a  congeries  of  races  in 
which  a  Teutonic  minority  ruled  with  an  iron  scepter. 

Against  this  phalanx  of  autocracy,  twenty-four  nations 
arrayed  themselves.  Populations  of  these  twenty-eight  warring 
nations  far  exceeded  the  total  population  of  all  the  remainder 
of  humanity.  The  conflagration  of  war  literally  belted  the  earth. 
It  consumed  the  most  civilized  of  capitals.  It  raged  in  the  swamps 
and  forests  of  Africa.  To  its  call  came  alien  peoples  speaking 
words  that  none  but  themselves  could  translate,  wearing  gar- 
ments of  exotic  cut  and  hue  amid  the  smart  garbs  and  sober  hues 
of  modern  civilization.  A  twentieth  century  Babel  came  to  the 
fields  of  France  for  freedom's  sake,  and  there  was  born  an 
internationalism  making  for  the  future  understanding  and  peace 
of  the  world.  The  list  of  the  twenty-eight  nations  entering  the 
World  War  and  their  populations  follow: 


Countries.  Population. 

United  States 110,000,000 

Austria-Hungary 50,000,000 

Belgium 8,000,000 

Bulgaria 5,000,000 

Brazil 23,000,000 

China 420,000,000 

Costa  Rica 425,000 

Cuba 2,500,000 

France* 90,000,000 

Gautemala 2,000,000 

Germany 67,000,000 

Great  Britain* 440,000,000 

Greece 5,000,000 

Haiti 2,000,000 

Honduras 600,000 

*  Including  colonies. 


Countries.  Population, 

Italy 37,000,000 

Japan 54,000,000 

Liberia 2,000,000 

Montenegro 500,000 

Nicaragua 700,000 

Panama 400,000 

Portugal* 15,000,000 

Roumania 7,500,000 

Russia 180,000,000 

San  Marino 10,000 

Serbia 4,500,000 

Siam 6,000,000 

Turkey 42,000,000 


Total 1,575,135,000 


The  following  nations,  with  their  populations,  took  no  part 
in  the  World  War: 

Countries.                                          Population.  Countries.                                           Population. 

Abyssinia 8,000,000      Argentina 8,000,000 

Afghanistan 6,000,000      Bhutan 250,000 

Andorra 6,000      Chile 5,000,000 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


Countries.  Population. 

Paraguay 800,000 

Persia 9,000,000 

Salvador 1,250,000 

Spain 20,000,000 

Switzerland 3,750,000 

Venezuela 2,800,000 


Total 135,876,000 


Countries.  Population. 

Colombia 5,000,000 

Denmark 3,000,000 

Ecuador 1,500,000 

Mexico 15,000,000 

Monaco 20,000 

Nepal 4,000,000 

Holland* 40,000,000 

Norway 2,500,000 

*  Including  colonies. 

Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  world  were  so  many  races 
and  peoples  mingled  in  a  military  effort  as  those  that  came  together 
under  the  command  of  Marshal  Foch.  If  we  divide  the  human 
races  into  white,  yellow,  red  and  black,  all  four  were  largely 
represented.  Among  the  white  races  there  were  Frenchmen, 
Italians,  Portuguese,  English,  Scottish,  Welsh,  Irish,  Canadians, 
Australians,  South  Africans  (of  both  British  and  Dutch  descent) 
New  Zealanders;  hi  the  American  army,  probably  every  other 
European  nation  was  represented,  with  additional  contingents  from 
those  already  named,  so  that  every  branch  of  the  white  race  figured 
hi  the  ethnological  total. 

There  were  representatives  of  many  Asiatic  races,  including 
not  only  the  volunteers  from  the  native  states  of  India,  but  elements 
from  the  French  colony  in  Cochin  China,  with  Annam,  Cambodia, 
Tonkin,  Laos,  and  Kwang  Chau  Wan.  England  and  France  both 
contributed  many  African  tribes,  including  Arabs  from  Algeria 
and  Tunis,  Senegalese,  Saharans,  and  many  of  the  South  African 
races.  The  red  races  of  North  America  were  represented  in  the 
armies  of  both  Canada  and  the  United  States,  while  the  Maoris, 
Samoans,  and  other  Polynesian  races  were  likewise  represented. 
And  as,  in  the  American  Army,  there  were  men  of  German,  Austrian, 
and  Hungarian  descent,  and,  in  all  probability,  contingents  also  of 
Bulgarian  and  Turkish  blood,  it  may  be  said  that  Foch  commanded 
an  army  representing  the  whole  human  race,  united  in  defense  of 
the  ideals  of  the  Allies. 

It  will  be  seen  that  more  than  ten  tunes  the  number  of  neutral 
persons  were  engulfed  in  the  maelstrom  of  war.  Millions  of  these 
suffered  from  it  during  the  entire  period  of  the  conflict,  four  years 
three  months  and  fifteen  days,  a  total  of  1,567  days.  For  almost 
four  years  Germany  rolled  up  a  record  of  victories  on  land  and  of 
piracies  on  and  under  the  seas. 


TERRITORY  OCCUPIED  BY  THE  ALLIES  UNDER  THE  ARMISTICE 
OF  NOVEMBER  11,   1918 

Dotted  area,  invaded  territory  of  Belgium,  France,  Luxembourg  and  Alsace- 
Lorraine  to  be  evacuated  in  fourteen  days;  area  in  small  squares,  part  of  Germany 
west  of  the  Rhine  to  be  evacuated  in  twenty-five  days  and  occupied  by  Allied  and 
U.  S.  troops;  lightly  shaded  area  to  east  of  Rhine,  neutral  zone;  black  semi-circles, 
bridge-heads  of  thirty  kilometers  radius  in  the  neutral  zone  to  be  occupied  by  Allied 
Armies. 

(23) 


24  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Little  by  little,  day  after  day,  piracies  dwindled  as  the  murder- 
ous submarine  was  mastered  and  its  menace  strangled.  On  the 
land,  the  Allies,  under  the  matchless  leadership  of  Marshal  Ferdi- 
nand Foch  and  the  generous  co-operation  of  Americans,  British, 
French  and  Italians,  under  the  great  Generals  Pershing,  Haig, 
Petain  and  Diaz,  wrested  the  initiative  from  von  Hindenburg  and 
Ludendorf,  late  hi  July,  1918.  Then,  in  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
days  of  wonderful  strategy  and  the  fiercest  fighting  the  world 
has  ever  witnessed,  Foch  and  the  Allies  closed  upon  the  Germanic 
armies  the  jaws  of  a  steel  trap.  A  series  of  brilliant  maneuvers 
dating  from  the  battle  of  Chateau-Thierry  hi  which  the  Americans 
checked  the  Teutonic  rush,  resulted  in  the  defeat  and  rout  on  all 
the  fronts  of  the  Teutonic  commands. 

In  that  titanic  effort,  America's  share  was  that  of  the  final 
deciding  factor.  A  nation  unjustly  titled  the  "Dollar  Nation," 
believed  by  Germany  and  by  other  countries  to  be  soft,  selfish 
and  wasteful,  became  over  night  hard  as  tempered  steel,  self- 
sacrificing  with  an  altruism  that  inspired  the  world  and  thrifty 
beyond  all  precedent  in  order  that  not  only  its  own  armies  but  the 
armies  of  the  Allies  might  be  fed  and  munitioned. 

Leading  American  thought  and  American  action,  President 
Wilson  stood  out  as  the  prophet  of  the  democracies  of  the  world. 
Not  only  did  he  inspire  America  and  the  Allies  to  a  military  and 
naval  effort  beyond  precedent,  but  he  inspired  the  civilian  popula- 
tions of  the  world  to  extraordinary  effort,  efforts  that  eventually 
won  the  war.  For  the  decision  was  gained  quite  as  certainly  on  the 
wheat  fields  of  Western  America,  hi  the  shops  and  the  mines  and 
the  homes  of  America  as  it  was  upon  the  battle-field. 

This  effort  came  hi  response  to  the  following  appeal  by  the 
President: 

These,  then,  are  the  things  we  must  do,  and  do  well,  besides  fighting 
— the  things  without  which  mere  fighting  would  be  fruitless: 

We  must  supply  abundant  food  for  ourselves  and  for  our  armiea 
and  our  seamen  not  only,  but  also  for  a  large  part  of  the  nations  with  whom 
we  have  now  made  common  cause,  in  whose  support  and  by  whose  sides 
we  shall  be  fighting; 

We  must  supply  ships  by  the  hundreds  out  of  our  shipyards  to  carry 
to  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  submarines  or  no  submarines,  what  will  every- 
day be  needed  there;  and — 

Abundant  materials  out  of  our  fields  and  our  mines  and  our  factories 


A  WAR  FOR  INTERNATIONAL  FREEDOM     25 

with  which  not  only  to  clothe  and  equip  our  own  forces  on  land  and  sea 
but  also  to  clothe  and  support  our  people  for  whom  the  gallant  fellows  under 
arms  can  no  longer  work,  to  help  clothe  and  equip  the  armies  with  which 
we  are  co-operating  in  Europe,  and  to  keep  the  looms  and  manufactories 
there  in  raw  material; 

Coal  to  keep  the  fires  going  in  ships  at  sea  and  in  the  furnaces  of 
hundreds  of  factories  across  the  sea; 

Steel  out  of  which  to  make  arms  and  ammunition  both  here  and 
there; 

Rails  for  worn-out  railways  back  of  the  fighting  fronts; 

Locomotives  and  rolling  stock  to  take  the  place  of  those  every  day 
going  to  pieces; 

Everything  with  which  the  people  of  England  and  France  and  Italy 
and  Russia  have  usually  supplied  themselves,  but  cannot  now  afford  the 
men,  the  materials,  or  the  machinery  to  make. 

I  particularly  appeal  to  the  farmers  of  the  South  to  plant  abundant 
foodstuffs  as  well  as  cotton.  They  can  show  their  patriotism  in  no  better 
or  more  convincing  way  than  by  resisting  the  great  temptation  of  the 
present  price  of  cotton  and  helping,  helping  upon  a  large  scale,  to  feed  the 
nation  and  the  peoples  everywhere  who  are  fighting  for  their  liberties  and 
for  our  own.  The  variety  of  their  crops  will  be  the  visible  measure  of 
their  comprehension  of  their  national  duty. 

The  response  was  amazing  in  its  enthusiastic  and  general 
compliance.  No  autocracy  issuing  a  ukase  could  have  been  obeyed 
so  explicitly.  Not  only  did  the  various  classes  of  workers  and 
individuals  observe  the  President's  suggestions  to  the  letter,  but 
they  yielded  up  individual  right  after  right  in  order  that  the  war 
work  of  the  government  might  be  expedited.  Extraordinary 
powers  and  functions  were  granted  by  the  -people  through  Congress, 
and  it  was  not  until  peace  was  declared  that  these  rights  and  powers 
returned  to  the  people. 

These  governmental  activities  ceased  functioning  after  the  war: 

Food  administration; 

Fuel  administration; 

Espionage  act; 

War  trade  board; 

Alien  property  custodian  (with  extension  of  time  for  cer- 
tain duties); 

Agricultural  stimulation; 

Housing  construction  (except  for  shipbuilders) ; 

Control  of  telegraphs  and  telephones; 

Export  control. 


26  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

These^ functions  were  extended: 

Control  over  railroads:  to  cease  within  twenty-one  months 

after  the  proclamation  of  peace. 

The  War  Finance  Corporation:  to  cease  to  function  six 

months  after  the  war,  with  further  time  for  liquidation. 

The  Capital  Issues  Committee:  to  terminate  in  six  months 

after  the  peace  proclamation. 

The  Aircraft  Board:  to  end  hi  six  months  after  peace  was 
proclaimed;    and  the  government  operation  of  ships, 
within  five  years  after  the  war  was  officially  ended. 
President  Wilson,  generally  acclaimed  as  the  leader  of  the 
world's  democracies,  phrased  for  civilization  the  arguments  against 
autocracy  in  the  great  peace  conferenceafter  the  war.  ThePresident 
headed  the  American  delegation  to  that  conclave  of  world  re-con- 
struction.    With  him  as  delegates  to  the  conference  were  Robert 
Lansing,  Secretary  of  State;  Henry  White,  former  Ambassador  to 
France  and  Italy;  Edward  M.  House  and  General  Tasker  H. 
Bliss. 

Representing  American  Labor  at  the  International  Labor 
conference  held  in  Paris  simultaneously  with  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence were  Samuel  Gompers,  president  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor;  William  Green,  secretary-treasurer  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America;  John  R.  Alpine,  president  of  the  Plumbers' 
Union;  James  Duncan,  president  of  the  International  Association 
of  Granite  Cutters;  Frank  Duffy,  president  of  the  United  Broth- 
erhood of  Carpenters  and  Joiners,  and  Frank  Morrison,  secretary 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor. 

Estimating  the  share  of  each  Allied  nation  in  the  great  victory, 
mankind  will  conclude  that  the  heaviest  cost  in  proportion  to  pre- 
war population  and  treasure  was  paid  by  the  nations  that  first 
felt  the  shock  of  war,  Belgium,  Serbia,  Poland  and  France.  All 
four  were  the  battle-grounds  of  huge  armies,  oscillating  in  a  bloody 
frenzy  over  once  fertile  fields  and  once  prosperous  towns. 

Belgium,  with  a  population  of  8,000,000,  had  a  casualty  list 
of  more  than  350,000;  France,  with  its  casualties  of  4,000,000  out 
of  a  population  (including  its  colonies)  of  90,000,000,  is  really  the 
martyr  nation  of  the  world.  Her  gallant  poilus  showed  the  world 
how  cheerfully  men  may  die  in  defense  of  home  and  liberty.  Huge 
Russia,  including  hapless  Poland,  had  a  casualty  list  of  7,000,000 


KINGS  AND  CHIEF  EXECUTIVES  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL 
POWERS  ASSOCIATED  AGAINST  THE  GERMAN  ALLIANCE 


©  International  Film  Service. 

THE   "TIGER"   OF  FRANCE 

Georges  Benjamin  Eugene  Clemenceau,  world-famous  Premier  of  France,  who  by 
his  inspiring  leadership  maintained  the  magnificent  morale  of  his  countrymen  in  the 
face  of  terrific  assaults  of  the  enemy. 


THE  RIGHT  HONORABLE  DAVID  LLOYD   GEORGE 

British  Premier,  who  headed  the  coalition  cabinet  which  carried 

England  through  the  war  to  victory. 


KING  GEORGE  V 

King  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  and  Emperor  of  India,  who  struggled 
earnestly  to  prevent  the  war.  but  when  Germany  attacked  Belgium  sent  the 
mighty  forces  of  the  British  Empire  to  stop  the  Hun. 


A  WAR  FOR  INTERNATIONAL  FREEDOM     31 

out  of  its  entire  population  of  180,000,000.  The  United  States 
out  of  a  population  of  110,000,000  had  a  casualty  list  of  236,117  for 
nineteen  months  of  war;  of  these  53,169  were  killed  or  died  of 
disease;  179,625  were  wounded;  and  3,323  prisoners  or  missing. 

To  the  glory  of  Great  Britain  must  be  recorded  the  enormous 
effort  made  by  its  people,  showing  through  operations  of  its  army 
and  navy.  The  British  Empire,  including  the  Colonies,  had  a 
casualty  list  of  3,049,992  men  out  of  a  total  population  of  440,- 
000,000.  Of  these  658,665  were  killed;  2,032,122  were  wounded, 
and  359,204  were  reported  missing.  It  raised  an  army  of  7,000,000, 
and  fought  seven  separate  foreign  campaigns,  in  France,  Italy, 
Dardanelles,  Mesopotamia,  Macedonia,  East  Africa  and  Egypt. 
It  raised  its  navy  personnel  from  115,000  to  450,000  men.  Co-oper- 
ating with  its  allies  on  the  sea,  it  destroyed  approximately  one 
hundred  and  fifty  German  and  Austrian  submarines.  It  aided 
materially  the  American  navy  and  transport  service  hi  sending 
overseas  the  great  American  army  whose  coming  decided  the  war. 
The  British  navy  and  transport  service  during  the  war  made  the 
following  record  of  transportation  and  convoy: 

Twenty  million  men,  2,000,000  horses,  130,000,000  tons  of 
food,  25,000,000  tons  of  explosives  and  supplies,  51,000,000  tons 
of  oil  and  fuels,  500,000  vehicles.  In  1917  alone  7,000,000  men, 
500,000  animals,  200,000  vehicles  and  9,5000,00  tons  of  stores  were 
conveyed  to  the  several  war  fronts. 

The  German  losses  were  estimated  at  1,588,000  killed  or  died 
of  disease;  4,000,000  wounded;  and  750,000  prisoners  and  missing. 

A  tabulation  of  the  estimates  of  casualties  and  the  money  cost 
of  the  war  reveals  the  enormous  price  paid  by  humanity  to  con- 
vince a  military-mad  Germanic  caste  that  Right  and  not  Might 
must  hereafter  rule  the  world.  These  figures  do  not  include  Serbian 
losses,  which  are  unavailable.  Following  is  the  tabulation: 

THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES  THE  CENTRAL  POWERS 

Russia 7,000,000      Germany 6,338,000 

France 4,000,000      Austria-Hungary 4,500,000 

British  Empire  (official) 3,049,992      Turkey 750,000 

Italy 1,000,000      Bulgaria 200,000 

Belgium 350,000 

Roumania 200,000          Total 11,788,000 

United  States  (official) 236,117 

Total 15,836,109 


32  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

Grand  total  of  estimated  casualties,  27,624,109,  of  which  the 
dead  alone  number  perhaps  7,000,000. 

ESTIMATED  COST  IN  MONEY 

THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES  THE  CENTRAL  POWERS 

Russia $30,000,000,000      Germany $45,000,000,000 

Britain 52,000,000,000      Austria-Hungary 25,000,000,000 

France 32,000,000,000      Turkey 5,000,000,000 

United  States 40,000,000,000      Bulgaria 2,000,000,000 

Italy 12,000,000,000 

Roumania 3,000,000,000          Total $77,000,000,000 

Serbia 3,000,000,000 


Total $172,000,000,000 

Grand  total  of  estimated  cost  in  money,  $249,000,000,000. 

Was  the  cost  too  heavy?  Was  the  price  of  international 
liberty  paid  in  human  lives  and  in  sacrifices  untold  too  great  for 
the  peace  that  followed? 

Even  the  most  practical  of  money  changers,  the  most  senti- 
mental pacifist,  viewing  the  cost  in  connection  with  the  liberation 
of  whole  nations,  with  the  spread  of  enlightened  liberty  through 
oppressed  and  benighted  lands,  with  the  destruction  of  autocracy, 
of  the  military  caste,  and  of  Teutonic  kultur  in  its  materialistic 
aspect,  must  agree  that  the  blood  was  well  shed,  the  treasure  well 
spent. 

Millions  of  gallant,  eager  youths  learned  how  to  die  fearlessly 
and  gloriously.  They  died  to  teach  vandal  nations  that  never- 
more will  humanity  permit  the  exploitation  of  peoples  for  mili- 
taristic purposes. 

As  Milton,  the  great  philosopher  poet,  phrased  the  lesson 
taught  to  Germany  on  the  fields  of  France: 

They  err  who  count  it  glorious  to  subdue 
By  conquest  far  and  wide,  to  overrun 
Large  countries,  and  in  field  great  battles  win, 
Great  cities  by  assault;  what  do  these  worthies 
But  rob  and  spoil,  burn,  slaughter,  and  enslave 
Peaceable  nations,  neighboring  or  remote 
Made  captive,  yet  deserving  freedom  more 
Than  those  their  conquerors,  who  leave  behind 
Nothing  but  ruin  wheresoe'er  they  rove 
,  And  all  the  nourishing  works  of  peace  destroy. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  WOELD  SUDDENLY  TURNED  UPSIDE  DOWN 

DEMORALIZATION,  like  the  black  plague  of  the  middle 
ages,  spread  in  every  direction  immediately  following  the 
first  overt  acts  of  war.  Men  who  were  millionaires  at 
nightfall  awoke  the  next  morning  to  find  themselves 
bankrupt  through  depreciation  of  their  stock-holdings.  Prosperous 
firms  of  importers  were  put  out  of  business.  International  com- 
merce was  dislocated  to  an  extent  unprecedented  in  history. 

The  greatest  of  hardships  immediately  following  the  war, 
however,  were  visited  upon  those  who  unhappily  were  caught  on 
then*  vacations  or  on  their  business  trips  within  the  area  affected 
by  the  war.  Not  only  men,  but  women  and  children,  were  subjected 
to  privations  of  the  severest  character.  Notes  which  had  been 
negotiable,  paper  money  of  every  description,  and  even  silver 
currency  suddenly  became  of  little  value.  Americans  living  in 
hotels  and  pensions  facing  this  sudden  shrinkage  in  then*  money, 
were  compelled  to  leave  the  roofs  that  had  sheltered  them.  That 
which  was  true  of  Americans  was  true  of  all  other  nationalities,  so 
that  every  embassy  and  the  office  of  every  consul  became  a  miniature 
Babel  of  excited,  distressed  humanity. 

The  sudden  seizure  of  railroads  for  war  purposes  in  Germany, 
France,  Austria  and  Russia,  cut  off  thousands  of  travelers  in 
villages  that  were  almost  inaccessible.  Europeans  being  com- 
paratively close  to  their  homes,  were  not  in  straits  as  severe  as  the 
Americans  whose  only  hope  for  aid  lay  in  the  speedy  arrival  of 
American  gold.  Prices  of  food  soared  beyond  all  precedent  and 
many  of  these  hapless  strangers  went  under.  Paris,  the  brightest 
and  gayest  city  hi  Europe,  suddenly  became  the  most  somber  of 
dwelling  places.  No  traffic  was  permitted  on  the  highways  at 
night.  No  lights  were  permitted  and  all  the  cafe's  were  closed  at 
eight  o'clock.  The  gay  capital  was  placed  under  iron  military  rule. 

Seaports,  and  especially  the  pleasure  resorts  in  France,  Belgium 
and  England,  were  placed  under  a  military  supervision.  Visitors 

33 


34  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

were  ordered  to  return  to  their  homes  and  every  resort  was  shrouded 
with  darkness  at  night.  The  records  of  those  early  days  are  filled 
with  stories  of  dramatic  happenings. 

On  the  night  of  July  31st  Jean  Leon  Jaur£s,  the  famous  leader 
of  French  Socialists,  was  assassinated  while  dining  in  a  small 
restaurant  near  the  Paris  Bourse.  His  assassin  was  Raoul  Villein. 
Jaures  had  been  endeavoring  to  accomplish  a  union  of  French  and 
German  Socialists  with  the  ami  of  preventing  the  war.  The  object 
of  the  assassination  appeared  to  have  been  wholly  political. 

On  the  same  day  stock  exchanges  throughout  the  United 
States  were  closed,  following  the  example  of  European  stock 
exchanges.  Ship  insurance  soared  to  prohibitive  figures.  Reservists 
of  the  French  and  German  armies  living  outside  of  then*  native 
land  were  called  to  the  colors  and  their  homeward  rush  still  further 
complicated  transportation  for  civilians.  All  the  countries  of 
Europe  clamored  for  gold.  North  and  South  America  complied 
with  the  demand  by  sending  cargoes  of  the  precious  metal  overseas. 
The  German  ship  Kron  Prinzessin  with  a  cargo  of  gold,  attempted 
to  make  the  voyage  to  Hamburg,  but  a  wireless  warning  that 
Allied  cruisers  were  waiting  for  it  off  the  Grand  Banks  of  Newfound- 
land, compelled  the  big  ship  to  turn  back  to  safety  in  America. 

Channel  boats  bearing  American  refugees  from  the  Continent 
to  London  were  described  as  floating  hells.  London  was  excited 
over  the  war  and  holiday  spirit,  and  overrun  with  five  thousand 
citizens  of  the  United  States  tearfully  pleading  with  the  American 
Ambassador  for  money  for  transportation  home  or  assurances  of 
personal  safety. 

The  condition  of  the  terror-stricken  tourists  fleeing  to  the 
friendly  shores  of  England  from  Continental  countries  crowded 
with  soldiers  dragging  in  their  wake  heavy  guns,  resulted  in  an 
extraordinary  gathering  of  two  thousand  Americans  at  a  hotel  one 
afternoon  and  the  formation  of  a  preliminary  organization  to 
afford  relief.  Some  people  who  attended  the  meeting  were  already 
beginning  to  feel  the  pinch  of  want  with  little  prospects  of  imme- 
diate succor.  One  man  and  wife,  with  four  children,  had  six  cents 
when  he  appealed  to  Ambassador  Page  after  an  exciting  escape  from 
German  territory. 

Oscar  Straus,  worth  ten  millions,  struck  London  with  nine 
dollars.  Although  he  had  letters  of  credit  for  five  thousand,  he 


THE  WORLD  TURNED   UPSIDE  DOWN        35 


k-».      •*      /  *B  U  L  0  A  »  * 

H  **  \         !^- 
;  »-A^N     i 


WHERE  THE  WORLD  WAR  BEGAN. 


36  .HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

was  unable  to  cash  them  in  Vienna.  Women  hugging  newspaper 
bundles  containing  expensive  Paris  frocks  and  millinery  were  herded 
in  third-class  carriages  and  compelled  to  stand  many  hours.  They 
reached  London  utterly  fatigued  and  unkempt,  but  mainly  cheer- 
ful, only  to  find  the  hotels  choked  with  fellow  countrymen  fortunate 
to  reach  there  sooner. 

The  Ambassador  was  harassed  by  anxious  women  and  children 
who  asked  many  absurd  questions  which  he  could  not  answer. 
He  said: 

"The  appeals  of  these  people  are  most  distressing.  They 
are  very  much  excited,  and  no  small  wonder.  I  regret  I  have  no 
definite  news  of  the  prospects  or  plans  of  the  government  for 
relief.  I  have  communicated  their  condition  to  the  Department  of 
State  and  expect  a  response  and  assurances  of  coming  aid  as  soon 
as  possible.  That  the  government  will  act  I  have  not  the  slightest 
doubt.  I  am  confident  that  Washington  will  do  everything  in  her 
power  for  relief.  How  soon,  I  cannot  tell.  I  have  heard  many 
distressing  tales  during  the  last  forty-eight  hours." 

A  crowd  filled  the  Ambassador's  office  on  the  first  floor  of  the 
flat  building,  in  Victoria  Street,  which  was  mainly  composed  of 
women,  school  teachers,  art  students,  and  other  persons  doing 
Europe  on  a  shoestring.  Many  were  entirely  out  of  money  and 
with  limited  securities,  which  were  not  negotiable. 

The  action  of  the  British  Government  extending  the  bank 
holiday  till  Thursday  of  that  week  was  discouraging  news  for  the 
new  arrivals  from  the  Continent,  as  it  was  uncertain  whether  the 
express  and  steamship  companies  would  open  in  the  morning  for  the 
cashing  of  checks  and  the  delivery  of  mail,  as  was  announced  the 
previous  Saturday. 

Doctors  J.  Riddle  Goffe,  of  New  York;  Frank  F.  Simpson,  of 
Pittsburgh;  Arthur  D.  Ballon  of  Vistaburg,  Mich.,  and  B.  F. 
Martin,  of  Chicago,  formed  themselves  into  a  committee,  and 
asked  the  co-operation  of  the  press  in  America  to  bring  about 
adequate  assistance  for  the  marooned  Americans,  and  to  urge  the 
bankers  of  the  United  States  to  insist  on  their  letters  of  credit 
and  travelers'  checks  being  honored  so  far  as  possible  by  the  agents 
in  Europe  upon  whom  they  were  drawn. 

Dr.  Martin  and  Dr.  Simpson,  who  left  London  on  Saturday 
for  Switzerland  to  fetch  back  a  young  American  girl,  were  unable 


THE  CATHEDRAL  OF  RHEIMS 

In  the  first  weeks  of  the  war  the  Germans  occupied  Rheims,  but  were  driven 
out  after  von  Kluck's  retreat.  On  September  20,  1914,  they  were  reported  as 
first  shelling  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims  and  the  civilized  world  stood  aghast,  for  the 
edifice,  begun  in  1212,  is  one  of  the  chief  glories  of  Gothic  architecture  in  all  Europe. 


THE  WORLD  TURNED  UPSIDE  DOWN        39 

to  get  beyond  Paris,  and  they  returned  to  London.  Everywhere 
they  found  trains  packed  with  refugees  whose  only  object  in  life 
apparently  was  to  reach  the  channel  boats,  accepting  cheerfully  the 
discomforts  of  those  vessels  if  only  able  to  get  out  of  the  war. 

Rev.  J.  P.  Garfield,  of  Claremore,  N.  H.,  gave  the  following 
account  of  his  experiences  in  Holland: 

"On  sailing  from  the  Hook  of  Holland  near  midnight  we  pulled 
out  just  as  the  boat  train  from  The  Hague  arrived.  The  steamer 
paused,  but  as  she  was  filled  to  her  capacity  she  later  continued  on 
her  voyage,  leaving  fully  two  hundred  persons  marooned  on  the 
wharf. 

"Our  discomforts  while  crossing  the  North  Sea  were  great. 
Every  seat  was  filled  with  sleepers,  the  cabins  were  given  to  women 
and  children.  The  crowd,  as  a  rule,  was  helpful  and  kindly,  the 
single  men  carrying  the  babies  and  people  lending  money  to  those 
without  funds.  Despite  the  refugee  conditions  prevailing  it  was 
noticeable  that  many  women  on  the  Hook  wharf  clung  tenaciously 
to  bandboxes  containing  Parisian  hats." 

Travelers  from  Cologne  said  that  searchlights  were  operated 
from  the  tops  of  the  hotels  all  night  searching  for  airplanes,  and 
machine  guns  were  mounted  on  the  famous  Cologne  Cathedral. 
They  also  reported  that  tourists  were  refused  hotel  accommodations 
at  Frankfort  because  they  were  without  cash. 

Men,  women  and  children  sat  in  the  streets  all  night.  The 
trains  were  stopped  several  miles  from  the  German  frontier  and  the 
passengers,  especially  the  women  and  children,  suffered  great 
hardship  being  forced  to  continue  their  journey  on  foot. 

Passengers  arriving  at  London  from  Montreal  on  the  Cunard 
Line  steamer  Andania,  bound  for  Southampton,  reported  the  vessel 
was  met  at  sea  by  a  British  torpedo  boat  and  ordered  by  wireless 
to  stop.  The  liner  then  was  led  into  Plymouth  as  a  matter  of  pre- 
caution against  mines.  Plymouth  was  filled  with  soldiers,  and 
searchlights  were  seen  constantly  flashing  about  the  harbor. 

Otis  B.  Kent,  an  attorney  for  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, of  Washington,  arrived  in  London  after  an  exciting  journey 
from  Petrograd.  Unable  to  find  accommodations  at  a  hotel  he  slept 
on  the  railway  station  floor.  He  said: 

"I  had  been  on  a  trip  to  Sweden  to  see  the  midnight  sun.  I 
did  not  realize  the  gravity  of  the  situation  until  I  saw  the  Russian 


40  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

fleet  cleared  for  action.  This  was  only  July  26th,  at  Kronstadt, 
where  the  shipyards  were  working  overtime. 

"I  arrived  at  the  Russian  capital  on  the  following  day.  Enor- 
mous demonstrations  were  taking  place.  I  was  warned  to  get  out 
and  left  on  the  night  of  the  28th  for  Berlin.  I  saw  Russian  soldiers 
drilling  at  the  stations  and  artillery  constantly  on  the  move. 

"At  Berlin  I  was  warned  to  keep  off  the  street*  for  fear  ot 
being  mistaken  for  an  Englishmen.  At  Hamburg  the  number  of 
warnings  was  increased.  Two  Russians  who  refused  to  rise  in  a 
cafe*  when  the  German  anthem  was  played  were  attacked  and  badly 
beaten.  I  also  saw  two  Englishmen  attacked  in  the  street,  but  they 
finally  were  rescued  by  the  police. 

"There  was  a  harrowing  scene  when  the  Hamburg- American 
Line  steamer  Imperator  canceled  its  sailing.  She  left  stranded 
three  thousand  passengers,  most  of  them  short  of  money,  and  the 
women  wailing.  About  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  us  were  given 
passage  hi  the  second  class  of  the  American  Line  steamship  Phila- 
delphia, for  which  I  was  offered  $400  by  a  speculator. 

"The  journey  to  Flushing  was  made  in  a  packed  train,  its 
occupants  lacking  sleep  and  food.  No  trouble  was  encountered 
on  the  frontier." 

Theodore  Hetzler,  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Bank,  was  appointed 
chairman  of  the  meeting  for  preliminary  relief  of  the  stranded 
tourists,  and  committees  were  named  to  interview  officials  of  the 
steamship  companies  and  of  the  hotels,  to  search  for  lost  baggage, 
to  make  arrangements  for  the  honoring  of  all  proper  checks  and 
notes,  and  to  confer  with  the  members  of  the  American  embassy. 

Oscar  Straus,  who  arrived  from  Paris,  said  that  the  United 
States  embassy  there  was  working  hard  to  get  Americans  out  of 
France.  Great  enthusiasm  prevailed  at  the  French  capital,  he 
said,  owing  to  the  announcement  that  the  United  States  Government 
was  considering  a  plan  to  send  transports  to  take  Americans  home. 

The  folio  whig  committees  were  appointed  at  the  meeting: 

Finance — Theodore  Hetzler,  Fred  I.  Kent  and  James  G. 
Cannon;  Transportation — Joseph  F.  Day,  Francis  M.  Weld  and 
George  D.  Smith,  all  of  New  York;  Diplomatic — Oscar  S.  Straus, 
Walter  L.  Fisher  and  James  Byrne;  Hotels — L.  H.  Armour,  of 
Chicago,  and  Thomas  J.  Shanley,  New  York. 

The   committee   established   headquarters   where   Americans 


THE  WORLD  TURNED  UPSIDE  DOWN        41 

might  register  and  obtain  assistance.  Chandler  Anderson,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  International  Claims  Commission,  arrived  in  London 
from  Paris.  He  said  he  had  been  engaged  with  the  work  of  the 
commission  at  Versailles,  when  he  was  warned  by  the  American 
embassy  that  he  had  better  leave  France.  He  acted  promptly 
on  this  advice  and  the  commission  was  adjourned  until  after  the 
war.  Mr.  Anderson  had  to  leave  his  baggage  behind  him  because 
the  railway  company  would  not  register  it.  He  said  the  city  of 
Paris  presented  a  strange  contrast  to  the  ordinary  animation  pre- 
vailing there.  Most  of  the  shops  were  closed.  There  were 
no  taxis  in  the  streets,  and  only  a  few  vehicles  drawn  by 
horses. 

The  armored  cruiser  Tennessee,  converted  for  the  tune  being 
into  a  treasure  ship,  left  New  York  on  the  night  of  August  6th, 
1914,  to  carry  $7,500,000  in  gold  to  the  many  thousand  Americans 
who  were  in  want  in  European  countries.  Included  hi  the 
$7,500,000  was  $2,500,000  appropriated  by  the  government. 
Private  consignments  in  gold  in  sums  from  $1,000  to  $5,000  were 
accepted  by  Colonel  Smith,  of  the  army  quartermaster's  depart- 
ment, who  undertook  their  delivery  to  Americans  in  Paris  and  other 
European  ports. 

The  cruiser  carried  as  passengers  Ambassador  Willard,  who 
returned  to  his  post  at  Madrid,  and  army  and  naval  officers  assigned 
as  military  observers  in  Europe.  On  the  return  trip  accommoda- 
tions for  200  Americans  were  available. 

The  dreadnaught  Florida,  after  being  hastily  coaled  and 
provisioned,  left  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  under  sealed  orders  at 
9.30  o'clock  the  morning  of  August  6th  and  proceeded  to  Tompkins- 
ville,  where  she  dropped  anchor  near  the  Tennessee. 

The  Florida  was  sent  to  protect  the  neutrality  of  American 
ports  and  prohibit  supplies  to  belligerent  ships.  Secretary 
Daniels  ordered  her  to  watch  the  port  of  New  York  and  sent  the 
Mayflower  to  Hampton  Roads.  Destroyers  guarded  ports  along 
the  New  England  coast  and  those  at  Lewes,  Del.,  to  prevent  viola- 
tions of  neutrality  at  Philadelphia  and  hi  that  territory.  Any 
vessel  that  attempted  to  sail  for  a  belligerent  port  without  clear- 
ance papers  was  boarded  by  American  officials. 

The  Texas  and  Louisiana,  at  Vera  Cruz,  and  the  Minnesota, 
at  Tampico,  were  ordered  to  New  York,  and  Secretary  Daniels 


42  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

announced  that  other  American  vessels  would  be  ordered  north 
as  fast  as  room  could  be  found  for  them  in  navy  yard  docks. 

At  wireless  stations,  under  the  censorship  ordered  by  the 
President,  no  code  messages  were  allowed  in  any  circumstances. 
Messages  which  might  help  any  of  the  belligerents  in  any  way 
were  barred. 

The  torpedo-boat  destroyer  Warrington  and  the  revenue 
cutter  Androscoggin  arrived  at  Bar  Harbor  on  August  6th,  to 
enforce  neutrality  regulations  and  allowed  no  foreign  ships  to  leave 
Frenchman's  Bay  without  clearance  papers.  The  United  States 
cruiser  Milwaukee  sailed  the  same  day  from  the  Puget  Sound  Navy 
Yard  to  form  part  of  the  coast  patrol  to  enforce  neutrality 
regulations. 

Arrangements  were  made  hi  Paris  by  Myron  T.  Herrick,  the 
American  Ambassador,  acting  under  instructions  from  Washington, 
to  take  over  the  affairs  of  the  German  embassy,  while  Alexander 
H.  Thackara,  the  American  Consul  General,  looked  after  the  affairs 
of  the  German  consulate. 

President  Poincare"  and  the  members  of  the  French  cabinet 
later  issued  a  joint  proclamation  to  the  French  nation  hi  which 
was  the  phrase  "mobilization  is  not  war." 

The  marching  of  the  soldiers  hi  the  streets  with  the  English, 
Russian  and  French  flags  flying,  the  singing  of  patriotic  songs  and 
the  shouting  of  "On  to  Berlin!"  were  much  less  remarkable  than 
the  general  demeanor  and  cold  resolution  of  most  of  the  people. 

The  response  to  the  order  of  mobilization  was  instant,  and  the 
stations  of  all  the  railways,  particularly  those  leading  to  the  east- 
ward, were  crowded  with  reservists.  Many  women  accompanied 
the  men  until  close  to  the  stations,  where,  softly  crying,  farewells 
were  said.  The  troop  trains  left  at  frequent  intervals.  All  the 
automobile  busses  disappeared,  having  been  requisitioned  by  the 
army  to  carry  meat,  the  coachwork  of  the  vehicles  being  removed 
and  replaced  with  specially  designed  bodies.  A  large  number  of 
taxicabs,  private  automobiles  and  horses  and  carts  also  were  taken 
over  by  the  military  for  transport  purposes. 

The  wildest  enthusiasm  was  manifested  on  the  boulevards 
when  the  news  of  the  ordering  of  the  mobilization  became  known. 
Bodies  of  men  formed  into  regular  companies  in  ranks  ten  deep, 
paraded  the  streets  waving  the  tricolor  and  other  national  emblems 


THE  WORLD  TURNED  UPSIDE  DOWN        43 

and  cheering  and  singing  the  "Marseillaise"  and  the  " Interna- 
tionale," at  the  same  time  throwing  their  hats  hi  the  ah*.  On  the 
sidewalks  were  many  weeping  women  and  children.  All  the 
stores  and  cafes  were  deserted. 

All  foreigners  were  compelled  to  leave  Paris  or  France  before 
the  end  of  the  first  day  of  mobilization  by  tram  but  not  by  auto- 
mobile. Tune  tables  were  posted  on  the  walls  of  Paris  giving  the 
times  of  certain  trains  on  which  these  people  might  leave  the  city. 

American  citizens  or  British  subjects  were  allowed  to  remain 
hi  France,  except  in  the  regions  on  the  eastern  frontier  and  near 
certain  fortresses,  provided  they  made  declaration  to  the  police 
and  obtained  a  special  permit. 

As  to  Italy's  situation,  Rome  was  quite  calm  and  the  normal 
aspect  made  tourists  decide  that  Italy  was  the  safest  place.  Aus- 
tria's note  to  Serbia  was  issued  without  consulting  Italy.  One 
point  of  the  Triple  Alliance  provided  that  no  member  should  take 
action  in  the  Balkans  before  an  agreement  with  the  other  allies. 
Such  an  agreement  did  not  take  place.  The  alliance  was  of  defen- 
sive, not  aggressive,  character  and  could  not  force  an  ally  to  follow 
any  enterprise  taken  on  the  sole  account  and  without  a  notice,  as 
such  action  taken  by  Austria  against  Serbia.  It  was  felt  even  then 
that  Italy  would  eventually  cast  its  lot  with  the  Entente  Allies. 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury  William  G.  McAdoo;  John  Skelton 
Williams,  Comptroller  of  the  Currency;  Charles  S.  Harnblin  and 
William  P.  G.  Harding,  members  of  the  Federal  Reserve  Board, 
went  to  New  York  early  in  August,  1914,  where  they  discussed 
relief  measures  with  a  group  of  leading  bankers  at  what  was 
regarded  as  the  most  momentous  conference  of  the  kind  held  in 
the  country  in  recent  years. 

The  New  York  Clearing  House  Committee,  on  August  2d, 
called  a  meeting  of  the  Clearing  House  Association,  to  arrange  for 
the  immediate  issuance  of  clearing  house  certificates.  Among 
those  at  the  conference  were  J.  P.  Morgan  and  his  partner,  Henry 
P.  Davison;  Frank  A.  Vanderlip,  president  of  the  National  City 
Bank,  and  A.  Barton  Hepburn,  chairman  of  the  Chase  National 
Bank. 


CHAPTER  III 
WHY  THE  WORLD  WENT  TO  WAR 

WHILE  it  is  true  that  the  war  was  conceived  in  Berlin, 
it  is  none  the  less  true  that  it  was  born  in  the  Balkans. 
It  is  necessary  in  order  that  we  may  view  with  correct 
perspective  the  background  of  the  World  War,  that 
we  gain  some  notion  of  the  Balkan  States  and  the  complications 
entering  into   their  relations.      These  countries  have  been  the 
adopted  children  of  the  great  European  powers  during  generations 
of  rulers.    Russia  assumed  guardianship  of  the  nations  having  a  pre- 
ponderance of  Slavic  blood;    Roumania  with  its  Latin  consan- 
guinities was  close  to  France  and  Italy;    Bulgaria,  Greece,  and 
Balkan  Turkey  were  debatable  regions  wherein  the  diplomats  of  the 
rival  nations  secured  temporary  victories  by  devious  methods. 

The  Balkans  have  fierce  hatreds  and  have  been  the  site  of 
sudden  historic  wars.  At  the  tune  of  the  declaration  of  the  World 
War,  the  Balkan  nations  were  living  under  the  provisions  of  the 
Treaty  of  Bucharest,  dated  August  10,  1913.  Greece,  Roumania, 
Bulgaria,  Serbia  and  Montenegro  were  signers,  and  Turkey 
acquiesced  in  its  provisions. 

The  assassination  at  Sarajevo  had  sent  a  convulsive  shudder 
throughout  the  Balkans.  The  reason  lay  in  the  century-old 
antagonism  between  the  Slav  and  the  Teuton.  Serbia,  Montenegro 
and  Russia  had  never  forgiven  Austria  for  seizing  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina  and  making  these  Slavic  people  subjects  of  the 
Austrian  crown.  Bulgaria,  Roumania  and  Turkey  remained  cold 
at  the  news  of  the  assassination.  German  diplomacy  was  in  the 
ascendant  at  these  courts  and  the  prospect  of  war  with  Germany  as 
their  greal;  ally  presented  no  terrors  for  them.  The  sympathies  of 
the  people  of  Greece  were  with  Serbia,  but  the  Grecian  Court, 
because  the  Queen  of  Greece  was  the  only  sister  of  the  German 
Kaiser,  was  whole  heartedly  with  Austria.  Perhaps  at  the  first 
the  Roumanians  were  most  nearly  neutral.  They  believed  strongly 
that  each  of  the  small  nations  of  the  Balkan  region  as  well  as  all 

44 


WHY  THE  WORLD  WENT  TO  WAR 


45 


of  the  small  nations  that  had  been  absorbed  but  had  not  been 
digested  by  Austria,  should  cut  itself  from  the  leading  strings  held 
by  the  large  European  powers.  There  was  a  distinct  undercurrent 
for  a  federation  resembling  that  of  the  United  States  of  America 


(RUSSIA 


?^_ 


\Cededby  Turkey  to  Serbia.    v> 

T 

ja<>  *     »•  Montenegro. 

]    »    o  „     »  Greece. 

]    •>    ..  «     .» Bulgaria. 

^    n    »  Bulgaria  to  Roumania. 


PROVISIONS  OP  THE  TREATY  OP  BUCHAREST,  1913 

between  these  peoples.     This  was  expressed  most  clearly  by  M. 

Jonesco,  leader  of  the  Liberal  party  of  Roumania  and  generally 

recognized  as  the  ablest  statesman  of  middle  Europe.    He  declared : 

"I  always  believed,  and  still  believe,  that  the  Balkan  States 


46  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

cannot  secure  their  future  otherwise  than  by  a  close  understanding 
among  themselves,  whether  this  understanding  shall  or  shall  not 
take  the  form  of  a  federation.  No  one  of  the  Balkan  States  is 
strong  enough  to  resist  the  pressure  from  one  or  another  of  the 
European  powers. 

"For  this  reason  I  am  deeply  grieved  to  see  in  the  Balkan 
coalition  of  1912  Roumania  not  invited.  If  Roumania  had  taken 
part  in  the  first  one,  we  should  not  have  had  the  second.  I  did  all 
that  was  in  my  power  and  succeeded  in  preventing  the  war  between 
Roumania  and  the  Balkan  League  in  the  winter  of  1912-13. 

"I  risked  my  popularity,  and  I  do  not  feel  sorry  for  it.  I 
employed  all  my  efforts  to  prevent  the  second  Balkan  war,  which,  as 
is  well  known,  was  profitable  to  us.  I  repeatedly  told  the  Bul- 
garians that  they  ought  not  to  enter  it  because  in  that  case  we 
would  enter  it  too.  But  I  was  not  successful  in  my  efforts. 

"During  the  second  Balkan  war  I  did  all  in  my  power  to  end 
it  as  quickly  as  possible.  At  the  conference  at  Bucharest  I  made 
efforts,  as  Mr.  Pashich  and  Mr.  Venizelos  know  very  well,  to  secure 
for  beaten  Bulgaria  the  best  terms.  My  object  was  to  obtain  a  new 
coalition  of  all  the  Balkan  States,  including  Roumania.  Had  I 
succeeded  in  this  the  situation  would  be  much  better.  No  rea- 
sonable man  will  deny  that  the  Balkan  States  are  neutralizing  each 
other  at  the  present  time,  which  in  itself  makes  the  whole  situation 
all  the  more  miserable. 

"In  October,  1913,  when  I  succeeded  in  facilitating  the  con- 
clusion of  peace  between  Greece  and  Turkey,  I  was  pursuing  the 
same  object  of  the  Balkan  coalition.  On  my  return  from  Athens 
I  endeavored,  though  without  success,  to  put  the  Greco-Turkish 
relations  on  a  basis  of  friendship,  being  convinced  that  the  well- 
understood  interest  of  both  countries  lies  not  only  in  friendly 
relations,  but  even  in  an  alliance  between  them. 

"The  dissensions  that  exist  between  the  Balkan  States  can 
be  settled  in  a  friendly  way  without  war.  The  best  moment  for 
this  would  be  after  the  general  war,  when  the  map  of  Europe  will 
be  remade.  The  Balkan  country  which  would  start  war  against 
another  Balkan  country  would  commit,  not  only  a  crime  against 
her  own  future,  but  an  act  of  folly  as  well. 

"The  destiny  and  future  of  the  Balkan  States,  and  of  all  the 
small  European  peoples  as  well,  will  not  be  regulated  by  fratricidal 


WHY  THE  WORLD  WENT  TO  WAR     47 

wars,  but,  with  this  great  European  struggle,  the  real  object  of 
which  is  to  settle  the  question  whether  Europe  shall  enter  an  era 
of  justice,  and  therefore  happiness  for  the  small  peoples,  or  whether 
we  will  face  a  period  of  oppression  more  or  less  gilt-edged.  And 
as  I  always  believed  that  wisdom  and  truth  will  triumph  in  the 
end,  I  want  to  believe,  too,  that,  in  spite  of  the  pessimistic  news 
reaching  me  from  the  different  sides  of  the  Balkan  countries,  there 
will  be  no  war  among  them  in  order  to  justify  those  who  do  not 
believe  in  the  vitality  of  the  small  peoples." 

The  conference  at  Rome,  April  10,  1918,  to  settle  outstanding 
questions  between  the  Italians  and  the  Slavs  of  the  Adriatic,  drew 
attention  to  those  Slavonic  peoples  in  Europe  who  were  under  non- 
Slavonic  rule.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  there  were  three  great 
Slavonic  groups  hi  Europe:  First,  the  Russians  with  the  Little 
Russians,  speaking  languages  not  more  different  than  the  dialect 
of  Yorkshire  is  from  the  dialect  of  Devonshire;  second,  a  central 
group,  including  the  Poles,  the  Czechs  or  Bohemians,  the  Mora- 
vians, and  Slovaks,  this  group  thus  being  separated  under  the  four 
crowns  of  Russia,  Germany,  Austria  and  Hungary;  the  third,  the 
southern  group,  included  the  Sclavonians,  the  Croatians,  the 
Dalmatians,  Bosnians,  Herzegovinians,  the  Slavs,  generally  called 
Slovenes,  in  the  western  part  of  Austria,  down  to  Goritzia,  and  also 
the  two  independent  kingdoms  of  Montenegro  and  Serbia. 

Like  the  central  group,  this  southern  group  of  Slavs  was 
divided  under  four  crowns,  Hungary,  Austria,  Montenegro,  and 
Serbia;  but,  hi  spite  of  the  fact  that  hah"  belong  to  the  Western 
and  half  to  the  Eastern  Church,  they  are  all  essentially  the  same 
people,  though  with  considerable  infusion  of  non-Slavonic  blood, 
there  being  a  good  deal  of  Turkish  blood  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina. 
The  languages,  however,  are  practically  identical,  formed  largely 
of  pure  Slavonic  materials,  and,  curiously,  much  more  closely  con- 
nected with  the  eastern  Slav  group — Russia  and  Little  Russia — 
than  with  the  central  group,  Polish  and  Bohemian.  A  Russian 
of  Moscow  will  find  it  much  easier  to  understand  a  Slovene  from 
Goritzia  than  a  Pole  from  Warsaw.  The  Ruthenians,  in  southern 
Galicia  and  Bukowina,  are  identical  in  race  and  speech  with  the 
Little  Russians  of  Ukrainia. 

Of  the  central  group,  the  Poles  have  generally  inclined  to 
Austria,  which  has  always  supported  the  Polish  landlords  of  Galicia 


48 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


against  the  Ruthenian  peasantry;  while  the  Czechs  have  been  not 
so  much  anti-Austrian  as  anti-German.  Indeed,  the  Hapsburg 
rulers  have  again  and  again  played  these  Slavs  off  against  their 
German  subjects.  It  was  the  Southern  Slav  question  as  affecting 
Serbia  and  Austria,  that  gave  the  pretext  for  the  present  war. 
The  central  Slav  question  affecting  the  destiny  of  the  Poles — was  a 
bone  of  contention  between  Austria  and  Germany.  It  is  the  custom 
to  call  the  Southern  Slavs  "  Jugoslavs"  from  the  Slav  word  Yugo, 
"south,"  but  as  this  is  a  concession  to  German  transliteration, 


<I:"79  v    ^-^IrAM^::2r*  AvjR 


Boundary  of  Austrian  Cnpin  in  1315. 

Conftdtration 
••Other  Boundaries. 


Norlhern  Stars  (Mr*  JCzecte. 

5ow£Aer^  SfavsfSerbst  Croats 
inhabited  by 


THE  MIXTURE  OF  RACES  IN  SOUTH  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

many  prefer  to  write  the  word  " Yugoslav,"  which  represents 
its  pronunciation.  The  South  Slav  question  was  created  by 
the  incursions  of  three  Asiatic  peoples — Huns,  Magyars,  Turks 
— who  broke  up  the  originally  continuous  Slav  territory  that 
ran  from  the  White  Sea  to  the  confines  of  Greece  and  the 
Adriatic. 

This  was  the  complex  of  nationalities,  the  ferment  of  races 
existing  in  1914.  Out  of  the  hatreds  engendered  by  the  domination 
over  the  liberty-loving  Slavic  peoples  by  an  arrogant  Teutonic 
minority  grew  the  assassinations  at  Sarajevo.  These  crimes  were 


" 


WHY  THE   WORLD   WENT  TO  WAR  51 

the  expression  of  hatred  not  for  the  heir  apparent  of  Austria  but 
for  the  Hapsburg  and  their  Germanic  associates. 

By  a  twist  of  the  wheel  of  fate,  the  same  Slavic  peoples  whose 
determination  to  rid  themselves  of  the  Teutonic  yoke,  started 
the  war,  also  bore  rather  more  than  their  share  hi  the  swift-moving 
events  that  decided  and  closed  the  war. 

Russia,  the  dying  giant  among  the  great  nations,  championed 
the  Slavic  peoples  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  It  entered  the 
conflict  in  aid  of  little  Serbia,  but  at  the  end  Russia  bowed  to 
Germany  in  the  infamous  peace  treaty  at  Brest-Litovsk.  There- 
after during  the  last  months  of  the  war  Russia  was  virtually  an 
ally  of  its  ancient  enemy,  Turkey,  the  "Sick  Man  of  Europe,"  and 
the  central  German  empires.  With  these  allies  the  Bolshevik 
government  of  Russia  attempted  to  head  off  the  Czecho-Slovak 
regiments  that  had  been  captured  by  Russia  during  its  drive  into 
Austria  and  had  been  imprisoned  in  Siberia.  After  the  peace  con- 
summated at  Brest-Litovsk,  these  regiments  determined  to  fight 
on  the  side  of  the  Allies  and  endeavored  to  make  their  way  to  the 
western  front. 

No  war  problems  were  more  difficult  than  those  of  the  Czecho- 
slovaks. Few  have  been  handled  so  masterfully.  Surrounded  by 
powerful  enemies  which  for  centuries  have  been  bent  on  destroying 
every  trace  of  Slavic  culture,  they  had  learned  how  to  defend  them- 
selves against  every  trick  or  scheme  of  the  brutal  Germans. 

The  Czecho-Slovak  plan  in  Russia  was  of  great  value  to  the 
Allies  all  over  the  world,  and  was  put  at  their  service  by  Professor 
Thomas  G.  Masaryk.  He  went  to  Russia  when  everything  was 
adrift  and  got  hold  of  Bohemian  prisoners  here  and  there  and 
organized  them  into  a  compact  little  army  of  50,000  to  60,000  men. 
Equipped  and  fed,  he  moved  them  to  whatever  point  had  most 
power  to  thoroughly  disrupt  the  German  plans.  They  did  much  to 
check  the  German  army  for  months.  They  resolutely  refused  to 
take  any  part  hi  Russian  political  affairs,  and  when  it  seemed  no 
longer  possible  to  work  effectively  in  Russia,  this  remarkable  little 
band  started  on  a  journey  all  round  the  world  to  get  to  the  western 
front.  They  loyally  gave  up  most  of  their  arms  under  agreement 
with  Lenine  and  Trotzky  that  they  might  peacefully  proceed  out 
of  Russia  via  Vladivostok. 

While  they  were  carrying  out  their  part  of  the  agreement,  and 


52  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

well  on  the  way,  they  were  surprised  by  telegrams  from  Lenine 
and  Trotzky  to  the  Soviets  in  Siberia  ordering  them  to  take  away 
their  arms  and  intern  them. 

The  story  of  what  occurred  then  was  told  by  two  American 
engineers,  Emerson  and  Hawkins,  who,  on  the  way  to  Ambassador 
Francis,  and  not  being  able  to  reach  Vologda,  joined  a  band  of 
four  or  five  thousand.  The  engineers  were  with  them  three  months, 
while  they  were  making  it  safe  along  the  lines  of  the  railroad  for  the 
rest  of  the  Czecho-Slovaks  to  get  out,  and  incidentally  for  Siberians 
to  resume  peaceful  occupations.  They  were  also  supported  by  old 
railway  organizations  which  had  stuck  bravely  to  them  with- 
out wages  and  which  every  little  while  were  "shot  up"  by  the 
Bolsheviki. 

Distress  in  Russia  would  have  been  much  more  intense  had 
it  not  been  for  the  loyalty  of  the  railway  men  in  sticking  to  their 
tasks.  Some  American  engineers  at  Irkutsk,  on  a  peaceful  journey 
out  of  Russia,  on  descending  from  the  cars  were  met  with  a  demand 
to  surrender,  and  shots  from  machine  guns.  Some,  fortunately, 
had  kept  hand  grenades,  and  with  these  and  a  few  rifles  went 
straight  at  the  machine  guns.  Although  outnumbered,  the  attackers 
took  the  guns  and  soon  afterward  took  the  town.  The  Czecho- 
slovaks, hi  the  beginning  almost  unarmed,  went  against  great  odds 
and  won  for  themselves  the  right  to  be  considered  a  nation. 

Seeing  the  treachery  of  Lenine  and  Trotzky,  they  went  back 
toward  the  west  and  made  things  secure  for  then-  men  left  behind. 
They  took  town  after  town  with  the  arms  they  first  took  away  from 
the  Bolsheviki  and  Germans;  but  hi  every  town  they  immediately 
set  up  a  government,  with  all  the  elements  of  normal  life.  They 
established  police  and  sanitary  systems,  opened  hospitals,  and  had 
roads  repaired,  leaving  a  handful  of  men  in  the  midst  of  enemies 
to  carry  on  the  plans  of  then-  leaders.  American  engineers  speaking 
of  the  cleanliness  of  the  Czecho-Slovak  army,  said  that  they 
lived  like  Spartans. 

The  whole  story  is  a  remarkable  evidence  of  the  struggle  of 
these  little  people  for  self-government. 

The  emergence  of  the  Czecho-Slovak  nation  has  been  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  and  noteworthy  features  of  the  war.  Out  of  the 
confusion  of  the  situation,  with  the  possibility  of  the  resurrection 
of  oppressed  peoples,  something  of  the  dignity  of  old  Bohemia 


was 


WHY  THE   WORLD   WENT  TO  WAR  53 

comprehended,  and  it  was  recognized  that  the  Czechs  were  to  be 
rescued  from  Austria  and  the  Slovaks  from  Hungary,  and  united  in 
one  country  with  entire  independence.  This  was  undoubtedly  due, 
in  large  measure,  to  the  activities  of  Professor  Masaryk,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  National  Executive  Council  of  the  Czecho-Slovaks. 
His  four-year  exile  hi  the  United  States  had  the  establishment  of 
the  new  nation  as  its  fruit. 

Professor  Masaryk  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  is  a 
peculiar  discrepancy  between  the  number  of  states  in  Europe  and 
the  number  of  nationalities — twenty-seven  states  to  seventy 
nationalities.  He  explained,  also,  that  almost  all  the  states  are 
mixed,  from  the  point  of  nationality.  From  the  west  of  Europe  to 
the  east,  this  is  found  to  be  true,  and  the  farther  east  one  goes  the 
more  mixed  do  the  states  become.  Austria  is  the  most  mixed  of  all 
the  states.  There  is  no  Austrian  language,  but  there  are  nine 
languages,  and  six  smaller  nations  or  remnants  of  nations.  In  all 
of  Germany  there  are  eight  nationalities  besides  the  Germans,  who 
have  been  independent,  and  who  have  their  own  literature.  Turkey 
is  an  anomaly,  a  combination  of  various  nations  overthrown  and 
kept  down. 

Since  the  eighteenth  century  there  has  been  a  continuing 
strong  movement  from  each  nation  to  have  its  own  state.  Because 
of  the  mixed  peoples,  there  is  much  confusion.  There  are  Rouma- 
nians in  Austria,  but  there  is  a  kingdom  of  Roumania.  There  are 
Southern  Slavs,  but  there  are  also  Serbia  and  Montenegro.  It  is 
natural  that  the  Southern  Slavs  should  want  to  be  united  as  one 
state.  So  it  is  with  Italy. 

There  was  no  justice  hi  Poland  being  separated  hi  three  parts 
to  serve  the  dynasties  of  Prussia,  Russia  and  Austria.  The  Czecho- 
slovaks of  Austria  and  Hungary  claimed  a  union  The  national 
union  consists  hi  an  endeavor  to  make  the  suppressed  nations  free, 
to  unite  them  in  their  own  states,  and  to  readjust  the  states  that 
exist;  to  force  Austria  and  Prussia  to  give  up  the  states  that  should 
be  free. 

In  the  future,  said  Doctor  Masaryk,  there  are  to  be  sharp 
ethnological  boundaries.  The  Czecho-Slovaks  will  guarantee  the 
minorities  absolute  equality,  but  they  will  keep  the  German  part 
of  then*  country,  because  there  are  many  Bohemians  in  it,  and 
they  do  not  trust  the  Germans. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  PLOTTER  BEHIND  THE  SCENES 

ONE  factor  alone  caused  the  great  war.     It  was  not  the 
assassination   at  Sarajevo,  not  the  Slavic  ferment  of 
anti-Teutonism  in  Austria  and  the  Balkans.     The  only 
cause  of  the  world's  greatest  war  was  the  determination 
of  the  German  High  Command  and  the  powerful  circle  surrounding 
it  that  "Der  Tag"  had  arrived.     The  assassination  at  Sarajevo 
was  only  the  peg  for  the  pendant  of  war.     Another  peg  would 
have  been  found  inevitably  had  not  the  projection  of  that  assas- 
sination presented  itself  as  the  excuse. 

Germany's  military  machine  was  ready.  A  gray-green  uniform 
that  at  a  distance  would  fade  into  misty  obscurity  had  been  devised 
after  exhaustive  experiments  by  optical,  dye  and  cloth  experts 
co-operating  with  the  military  high  command.  These  uniforms 
had  been  standardized  and  fitted  for  the  millions  of  men  enrolled 
in  Germany's  regular  and  reserve  armies.  Rifles,  great  pyramids 
of  munitions,  field  kitchens,  traveling  post-offices,  motor  lorries,  a 
network  of  military  railways  leading  to  the  French  and  Belgian 
border,  all  these  and  more  had  been  made  ready.  German  soldiers 
had  received  instructions  which  enabled  each  man  at  a  signal  to  go 
to  an  appointed  place  where  he  found  everything  in  readiness  for 
his  long  forced  marches  into  the  territory  of  Germany's  neighbors. 
More  than  all  this,  Germany's  spy  system,  the  most  elaborate 
and  unscrupulous  in  the  history  of  mankind,  had  enabled  the  Ger- 
man High  Command  to  construct  hi  advance  of  the  declaration  of 
war  concrete  gun  emplacements  in  Belgium  and  other  invaded 
territory.  The  cellars  of  dwellings  and  shops  rented  or  owned  by 
German  spies  were  camouflaged  concrete  foundations  for  the  great 
guns  of  1'istria  and  Germany.  These  emplacements  were  in 
exactly  the  right  position  for  use  against  the  fortresses  of  Ger- 
many's foes.  Advertisements  and  shop-signs  were  used  by  spies 
as  guides  for  the  marching  German  armies  of  invasion. 

In  brief,  Germany  had  planned  for  war.     She  was  approxi- 

54 


KAISER   WILLIAM    II   OF   GERMANY 

Posterity  will  regard  him  as  more  responsible  than  any  other  human  being 
for  the  sacrifice  of  millions  of  lives  in  the  great  war,  as  a  ruler  who  might  have 
been  beneficent  and  wise,  but  attempted  to  destroy  the  liberties  of  mankind 
and  to  raise  on  their  ruins  an  odious  despotism.  To  forgive  him  and  to  forget  his 
terrible  transgressions  would  be  to  condone  them. 


[    1     il  - 

..   :  e 


THE   PLOTTER  BEHIND  THE   SCENES         57 

mately  ready  for  it.  Under  the  shelter  of  such  high-sounding 
phrases  as  "We  demand  our  place  in  the  sun,"  and  "The  seas 
must  be  free,"  the  German  people  were  educated  into  the  belief 
that  the  hour  of  Germany's  destiny  was  at  hand. 


GERMANY'S  POSSESSIONS  IN  AFRICA  PRIOR  TO  1914 


German  psychologists,  like  other  German  scientists,  had 
co-operated  with  the  imperial  militaristic  government  for  many 
years  to  bring  the  Germanic  mind  into  a  condition  of  docility. 
So  well  did  they  understand  the  mentality  and  the  trends  of 
character  of  the  German  people  that  it  was  comparatively  easy  to 
impose  upon  them  a  militaristic  system  and  philosophy  by  which 
the  individual  yielded  countless  personal  liberties  for  the  alleged 
good  of  the  state.  Rigorous  and  compulsory  military  service, 
unquestioning  adherence  to  the  doctrine  that  might  makes  right 


58  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

and  a  cession  to  "the  All-Highest,"  as  the  Emperor  was  styled,  of 
supreme  powers  in  the  state,  are  some  of  the  sufferances  to  which 
the  German  people  submitted. 

German  propaganda  abroad  was  quite  as  vigorous  as  at  home, 
but  infinitely  less  successful.  The  German  High  Command  did 
not  expect  England  to  enter  the  war.  It  counted  upon  America's 
neutrality  with  a  leaning  toward  Germany.  It  believed  that 
German  colonization  in  South  Africa  and  South  America  would 
incline  these  vast  domains  toward  friendship  for  the  Central 
empires.  How  mistaken  the  propagandists  and  psychologists  were 
events  have  demonstrated. 

It  was  this  dream  of  world-domination  by  Teutonic  kultur 
that  supplied  the  motive  leading  to  the  world's  greatest  war. 
Bosnia,  an  unwilling  province  of  Austria-Hungary,  at  one  tune  a 
province  of  Serbia  and  overwhelmingly  Slavic  in  its  population, 
had  been  seething  for  years  with  an  anti-Teutonic  ferment.  The 
Teutonic  court  at  Vienna,  leading  the  minority  Germanic  party 
in  Austria-Hungary,  had  been  endeavoring  to  allay  the  agitation 
among  the  Bosnian  Slavs.  In  pursuance  of  that  policy,  Archduke 
Francis  Ferdinand,  heir-presumptive  to  the  thrones  of  Austria  and 
Hungary,  and  his  morganatic  wife,  Sophia  Chotek,  Duchess  of 
Hohenberg,  on  June  28,  1914,  visited  Sarajevo,  the  capital  of 
Bosnia.  On  the  morning  of  that  day,  while  they  were  being 
driven  through  the  narrow  streets  of  the  ancient  town,  a  bomb 
was  thrown  at  them,  but  they  were  uninjured.  They  were 
driven  through  the  streets  again  hi  the  afternoon,  for  purpose  of 
public  display.  A  student,  just  out  of  his  'teens,  one  Gavrilo 
Prinzep,  attacked  the  royal  party  with  a  magazine  pistol  and 
killed  both  the  Archduke  and  his  wife. 

Here  was  the  excuse  for  which  Germany  had  waited.  Here 
was  the  dawn  of  "The  Day."  The  Germanic  court  of  Austria 
asserted  that  the  crime  was  the  result  of  a  conspiracy,  leading 
directly  to  the  Slavic  court  of  Serbia.  The  Serbians  in  their  turn 
declared  that  they  knew  nothing  of  the  assassination.  They 
pointed  out  the  fact  that  Sophia  Chotek  was  a  Slav,  and  that 
Francis  Ferdinand  was  more  liberal  than  any  other  member  of  the 
Austrian  royal  household,  and  finally,  that  he,  more  than  any 
other  member  of  the  Austrian  court,  understood  and  respected 
the  Slavic  character  and  aspirations. 


THE  PLOTTER  BEHIND  THE  SCENES        59 

At  six  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  July  23d,  Austria  sent  an 
ultimatum  to  Serbia,  presenting  eleven  demands  and  stipulating 
that  categorical  replies  must  be  delivered  before  six  o'clock  on  the 
evening  of  July  25th.  Although  the  language  in  which  the  ulti- 
matum was  couched  was  humiliating  to  Serbia,  the  answer  was 
duly  delivered  within  the  stipulated  time. 

The  demands  of  the  Austrian  note  in  brief  were  as  follows: 

1.  The  Serbian  Government  to  give  formal  assurance  of  its  con- 
demnation of  Serb  propaganda  against  Austria. 

2.  The  next  issue  of  the  Serbian  "Official  Journal"  was  to  contain 
a  declaration  to  that  effect. 

3.  This  declaration  to  express  regret  that  Serbian  officers  had  taken 
part  in  the  propaganda. 

4.  The  Serbian  Government  to  promise  that  it  would  proceed  rigor- 
ously against  all  guilty  of  such  activity. 

5.  This  declaration  to  be  at  once  communicated  by  the  King  of 
Serbia  to  his  army,  and  to  be  published  in  the  official  bulletin  as  an  order 
of  the  day. 

6.  All  anti-Austrian  publications  in  Serbia  to  be  suppressed. 

7.  The  Serbian  political  party  known  as  the  "National  Union"  to 
be  suppressed,  and  its  means  of  propaganda  to  be  confiscated. 

8.  All  anti- Austrian  teaching  in  the  schools  of  Serbia  to  be  suppressed. 

9.  All  officers,  civil  and  military,  who  might  be  designated  by  Austria 
as  guilty  of  anti-Austrian  propaganda  to  be  dismissed  by  the  Serbian 
Government. 

10.  Austrian  agents  to  co-operate  with  the  Serbian  Government  in 
suppressing  all  anti- Austrian  propaganda,  and  to  take  part  in  the  judicial 
proceedings  conducted  in  Serbia  against  those  charged  with  complicity 
in  the  crime  at  Sarajevo. 

11.  Serbia  to  explain  to  Austria  the  meaning  of  anti- Austrian  utter- 
ances of  Serbian  officials  at  home  and  abroad,  since  the  assassination. 

To  the  first  and  second  demands  Serbia  unhesitatingly  assented. 

To  the  third  demand,  Serbia  assented,  although  no  evidence 
was  given  to  show  that  Serbian  officers  had  taken  part  in  the 
propaganda. 

The  Serbian  Government  assented  to  the  fourth,  fifth,  sixth, 
seventh  and  eighth  demands  also. 

Extraordinary  as  was  the  ninth  demand,  which  would  allow 
the  Austrian  Gcyvernment  to  proscribe  Serbian  officials,  so  eager 
for  peace  and  friendship  was  the  Serbian  Government  that  it 


60  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

assented  to  it,  with  the  stipulation  that  the  Austrian  Government 
should  offer  some  proof  of  the  guilt  of  the  proscribed  officers. 

The  tenth  demand,  which  in  effect  allowed  Austrian  agents  to 
control  the  police  and  courts  of  Serbia,  it  was  not  possible  for 
Serbia  to  accept  without  abrogating  her  sovereignty.  However, 
it  was  not  unconditionally  rejected,  but  the  Serbian  Government 
asked  that  it  be  made  the  subject  of  further  discussion,  or  be 
referred  to  arbitration. 

The  Serbian  Government  assented  to  the  eleventh  demand, 
on  the  condition  that  if  the  explanations  which  would  be  given 
concerning  the  alleged  anti-Austrian  utterances  of  Serbian  officials 
would  not  prove  satisfactory  to  the  Austrian  Government,  the 
matter  should  be  submitted  to  mediation  or  arbitration. 

Behind  the  threat  conveyed  hi  the  Austrian  ultimatum  was 
the  menacing  figure  of  militant  Germany.  The  veil  that  had 
hitherto  concealed  the  hands  that  worked  the  string,  was  removed 
when  Germany,  under  the  pretense  of  localizing  the  quarrel  to 
Serbian  and  Austrian  soil,  interrogated  France  and  England, 
asking  them  to  prevent  Russia  from  defending  Serbia  in  the  event 
of  an  attack  by  Austria  upon  the  Serbs.  England  and  France 
promptly  refused  to  participate  hi  a  tragedy  which  would  deliver 
Serbia  to  Austria  as  Bosnia  had  been  delivered.  Russia,  bound  by 
race  and  creed  to  Serbia,  read  into  the  ultimatum  of  Teutonic 
kultur  a  determination  for  warfare.  Mobilization  of  the  Russian 
forces  along  the  Austrian  frontier  was  arranged,  when  it  was  seen 
that  Serbia's  pacific  reply  to  Austria's  demands  would  be  con- 
temptuously disregarded  by  Germany  and  Austria. 

During  the  days  that  intervened  between  the  issuance  of  the 
ultimatum  and  the  actual  declaration  of  war  by  Germany  against 
Russia  on  Saturday,  August  1st,  various  sincere  efforts  were  made 
to  stave  off  the  world-shaking  catastrophe.  Arranged  chronologic- 
ally, these  events  may  thus  be  summarized:  Russia,  on  July  24th, 
formally  asked  Austria  if  she  intended  to  annex  Serbian  territory  by 
way  of  reprisal  for  the  assassination  at  Sarajevo.  On  the  same  day 
Austria  replied  that  it  had  no  present  intention  to  make  such 
annexation.  Russia  then  requested  an  extension  of  the  forty- 
e  ght-hour  time-limit  named  in  the  ultimatum. 

Austria,  on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  July  25th,  refused  Russia's 
request  for  an  extension  of  the  period  named  hi  the  ultimatum. 


THE  PLOTTER  BEHIND  THE  SCENES         61 

On  the  same  day,  the  newspapers  published  hi  Petrograd  printed 
an  official  note  issued  by  the  Russian  Government  warning  Europe 
generally  that  Russia  would  not  remain  indifferent  to  the  fate  of 
Serbia.  These  newspapers  also  printed  the  appeal  of  the  Serbian 
Crown  Prince  to  the  Czar  dated  on  the  preceding  day,  urging  that 
Russia  come  to  the  rescue  of  the  menaced  Serbs.  Serbia's  peaceful 
reply  surrendering  on  all  points  except  one,  and  agreeing  to  submit 
that  to  arbitration,  was  sent  late  hi  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day, 
and  that  night  Austria  declared  the  reply  to  be  unsatisfactory  and 
withdrew  its  minister  from  Belgrade. 

England  commenced  its  attempts  at  pacification  on  the  follow- 
ing day,  Sunday,  July  26th.  Sir  Edward  Grey  spent  the  entire 
Sabbath  hi  the  Foreign  Office  and  personally  conducted  the  corre- 
spondence that  was  calculated  to  bring  the  dispute  to  a  peaceful 
conclusion.  He  did  not  reckon,  however,  with  a  Germany  deter- 
mined upon  war,  a  Germany  whose  manufacturers,  ship-owners 
and  Junkers  had  combined  with  its  militarists  to  achieve 
"Germany's  place  in  the  sun"  even  though  the  world  would  be 
stained  hi  the  blood  of  the  most  frightful  war  this  earth  has  ever 
known.  Realization  of  this  fact  did  not  come  to  Sir  Edward  Grey 
until  his  negotiations  with  Germany  and  with  Austria-Hungary 
had  proceeded  for  some  time.  His  first  suggestion  was  that  the 
dispute  between  Russia  and  Austria  be  committed  to  the  arbitration 
of  Great  Britain,  France,  Italy  and  Germany.  Russia  accepted 
this  but  Germany  and  Austria  rejected  it.  Russia  had  previously 
suggested  that  the  dispute  be  settled  by  a  conference  between  the 
diplomatic  heads  at  Vienna  and  Petrograd.  This  also  was  refused 
by  Austria. 

Sir  Edward  Grey  renewed  his  efforts  on  Monday,  July  27th, 
with  an  invitation  to  Germany  to  present  suggestions  of  its  own, 
looking  toward  a  settlement.  This  note  was  never  answered. 
Germany  took  the  position  that  its  proposition  to  compel  Russia 
to  stand  aside  while  Austria  punished  Serbia  had  been  rejected 
by  England  and  France  and  it  had  nothing  further  to  propose. 

During  all  this  period  of  negotiation  the  German  Foreign 
Office,  to  all  outward  appearances  at  least,  had  been  acting  inde- 
pendently of  the  Kaiser,  who  was  in  Norway  on  a  vacation  trip. 
He  returned  to  Potsdam  on  the  night  of  Sunday,  July  26th.  On 
Monday  morning  the  Czar  of  Russia  received  a  personal  message 


62  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


IB   /*"        U.  V-l  '  «»! 

yfe  /fcK 

V/MMfT^J 

^*IC-CN/*JC  o 


<        ^BOHEMIA 

ERATI OH/ 

(    -^ 

\££j/K,t>V~   ~ 


THE  GERMAN  CONFEDERATION  IN  1815 

28th,  when  Austria  declared  war  on  Serbia,  having  speedily  mobilized 
troops  at  strategic  points  on  the  Serbian  border.  Russian  mobiliza- 
tion, which  had  been  proceeding  only  in  a  tentative  way,  on  the 
Austrian  border,  now  became  general,  and  on  July  30th,  mobilization 
of  the  entire  Russian  army  was  proclaimed. 

Germany's  effort  to  exclude  England  from  the  war  began  on 
Thursday,  July  29th.     A  note,  sounding  Sir  Edward  Grey  on  the 


THE  PLOTTER  BEHIND  THE  SCENES         63 

question  of  British  neutrality  in  the  event  of  war  was  received, 
and  a  curt  refusal  to  commit  the  British  Empire  to  such  a  proposal 
was  the  reply.  Sir  Edward  Grey,  in  a  last  determined  effort  to 
avoid  a  world-war,  suggested  to  Germany,  Austria,  Serbia  and 
Russia  that  the  .military  operations  commenced  by  Austria  should 
be  recognized  as  merely  a  punitive  expedition.  He  further  sug- 
gested that  when  a  point  hi  Serbian  territory  previously  fixed  upon 
should  have  been  reached,  Austria  w^ould  halt  and  would  submit 
her  further  action  to  arbitration  in  the  conference  of  the  Powers. 
Russia  and  Serbia  agreed  unreservedly  to  this  proposition.  Austria 
gave  a  half-hearted  assent  to  the  principle  involved.  Germany 
made  no  reply. 

The  die  was  cast  for  war  on  the  following  day,  July  31st,  when 
Germany  made  a  dictatorial  and  arrogant  demand  upon  Russia 
that  mobilization  of  that  nation's  military  forces  be  stopped  within 
twelve  hours.  Russia  made  no  reply,  and  on  Saturday,  August  1st, 
Germany  set  the  world  aflame  with  the  dread  of  war's  horror  by 
her  declaration  of  war  upon  Russia. 

Germany's  responsibility  for  this  monumental  crime  against 
the  peace  of  the  world  is  eternally  fixed  upon  her,  not  only  by  these 
outward  and  visible  acts  and  negotiations,  not  only  by  her  years  of 
patient  preparation  for  the  war  into  which  she  plunged  the  world. 
The  responsibility  is  fastened  upon  her  forever  by  the  revelations 
of  her  own  ambassador  to  England  during  this  fateful  period. 
Prince  Lichnowsky,  in  a  remarkable  communication  which  was 
given  to  the  world,  laid  bare  the  machinations  of  the  German 
High  Command  and  its  advisers.  He  was  a  guest  of  the  Kaiser 
at  Kiel  on  board  the  Imperial  yacht  Meteor  when  the  message 
was  received  informing  the  Kaiser  of  the  assassination  at  Sarajevo. 
His  story  continues: 

Being  unacquainted  with  the  Vienna  viewpoint  and  what  was  going 
'on  there,  I  attached  no  very  far-reaching  significance  to  the  event;  but, 
looking  back,  I  could  feel  sure  that  in  the  Austrian  aristocracy  a  feeling 
of  relief  outweighed  all  others.  His  Majesty  regretted  that  his  efforts 
to  win  over  the  Archduke  to  his  ideas  had  thus  been  frustrated  by  the 
Archduke's  assassination.  .  .  . 

I  went  on  to  Berlin  and  saw  the  Chancellor,  von  Bethmann-Hollweg. 
I  told  him  that  I  regarded  our  foreign  situation  as  very  satisfactory  as  it 
was  a  long  time  indeed  since  we  had  stood  so  well  with  England.  And  in 
France  there  was  a  pacifist  cabinet.  Herr  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  did 


64  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

^^ 

*.  intent  to  attack  us,  and  that  such  an  attack  would  never  have 

sh  or  French  support,  as  both  countries  wanted  peace. 
I  went  from  him  to  Dr.  Zimmermann  (the  under  Secretary)  who  was 
in *  for  Herr  von  Jagow  (the  Foreign  Secretary),  and  learned  from  him 
n£*  was  abou?  to  call  up  nine  hundred  thousand  new  troops. 
His  words  unmistakably  denoted  ill-humor  against  Russia,  who,  he  s  id, 
etood  everywhere  in  our  way.  In  addition  there  were  questions ;  of  com- 
mercial  policy  that  had  to  be  settled.  That  General  von  Moltke  was 
urging  war  was,  of  course,  not  told  to  me.  I  learned  however,  that  Herr 
Tschirechky  (the  German  Ambassador  in  Vienna)  had  been  reproved 

i  i  *      •  ITT* _      J.  „     «V.  nn*    w\  s\*Jf\v*n  4"if\Y\     T/~\TI7Q  TTl 


von 


VUIl     O.BdlilO'^mvj'     yv"*'  ^»^*  . 

because  he  said  that  he  had  advised  Vienna  to  show  moderation  toward 
Serbia. 

Prince  Lichnowsky  went  to  his  summer  home  in  bilesia,  qui 

unaware  of  the  impending  crisis.    He  continues: 

When  I  returned  from  Silesia  on  my  way  to  London,  I  stopped  only 
a  few  hours  in  Berlin,  where  I  heard  that  Austria  intended  to  proceed 
against  Serbia  so  as  to  bring  to  an  end  an  unbearable  state  of  affairs. 
Unfortunately,  I  failed  at  the  moment  to  gauge  the  significance  of  the 
news.  I  thought  that  once  more  it  would  come  to  nothing;  that  even  if 
Russia  acted  threateningly,  the  matter  could  soon  be  settled.  I  now 
regret  that  I  did  not  stay  in  Berlin  and  declare  there  and  then  that  I 
would  have  no  hand  in  such  a  policy. 

There  was  a  meeting  in  Potsdam,  as  early  as  July  5th,  between 
the  German  and  Austrian  authorities,  at  which  meeting  war  was 
decided  on.  Prince  Lichnowsky  says: 

I  learned  afterwards  that  at  the  decisive  discussion  at  Potsdam  on 
July  5th  the  Austrian  demand  had  met  with  the  unconditional  approval 
of  all  the  personages  in  authority;  it  was  even  added  that  no  harm  would 
be  done  if  war  with  Russia  did  come  out  of  it.  It  was  so  stated  at  least 
in  the  Austrian  report  received  at  London  by  Count  Mensdorff  (the 
Austrian  Ambassador  to  England). 

At  this  point  I  received  instructions  to  endeavor  to  bring  the  English 
press  to  a  friendly  attitude  in  case  Austria  should  deal  the  death-blow  to 
"Greater-Serbian"  hopes.  I  was  to  use  all  my  influence  to  prevent 
public  opinion  in  England  from  taking  a  stand  against  Austria.  I  remem- 
bered England's  attitude  during  the  Bosnian  annexation  crisis,  when 
public  opinion  showed  itself  in  sympathy  with  the  Serbian  claims  to  Bos- 
nia; I  recalled  also  the  benevolent  promotion  of  nationalist  hopes  that 
went  on  in  the  days  of  Lord  Byron  and  Garibaldi;  and  on  these  and  other 
grounds  I  thought  it  extremely  unlikely  that  English  public  opinion  would 
support  a  punitive  expedition  against  the  Archduke's  murderers.  I  thus 
felt  it  my  duty  to  enter  an  urgent  warning  against  the  whole  project, 


THE  PLOTTER  BEHIND  THE  SCENES         67 

which  I  characterized  as  venturesome  and  dangerous,  I  recommended 
that  counsels  of  moderation  be  given  Austria,  as  1  did  not  believe  that  the 
conflict  could  be  localized  (that  is  to  say,  it  could  not  be  limited  to  a  war 
between  Austria  and  Serbia). 

Herr  von  Jagow  answered  me  that  Russia  was  not  prepared;  that 
there  would  be  more  or  less  of  a  rumpus;  but  that  the  more  firmly  we 
stood  by  Austria,  the  more  surely  would  Russia  give  way.  Austria  was 
already  blaming  us  for  flabbiness  and  we  could  not  flinch.  On  the  other 
hand,  Russian  sentiment  was  growing  more  unfriendly  all  the  time,  and 
we  must  simply  take  the  risk.  I  subsequently  learned  that  this  attitude 
was  based  on  advices  from  Count  Pourtales  (the  German  Ambassador  in 
Petrograd),  that  Russia  would  not  stir  under  any  circumstances;  informa- 
tion which  prompted  us  to  spur  Count  Berchtold  on  in  his  course.  On 
learning  the  attitude  of  the  German  Government  I  looked  for  salvation 
through  English  mediation,  knowing  that  Sir  Edward  Grey's  influence  in 
Petrograd  could  be  used  in  the  cause  of  peace.  I,  therefore,  availed  my- 
self of  my  friendly  relations  with  the  Minister  to  ask  him  confidentially  to 
advise  moderation  in  Russia  in  case  Austria  demanded  satisfaction  from 
the  Serbians,  as  it  seemed  likely  she  would. 

The  English  press  was  quiet  at  first,  and  friendly  to  Austria,  the 
assassination  being  generally  condemned.  By  degrees,  however,  more  and 
more  voices  made  themselves  heard,  in  the  sense  that,  however  necessary 
it  might  be  to  take  cognizance  of  the  crime,  any  exploitation  of  it  for 
political  ends  was  unjustifiable.  Moderation  was  enjoined  upon  Austria. 
When  the  ultimatum  came  out,  all  the  papers,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Standard,  were  unanimous  in  condemning  it.  The  whole  world,  outside 
of  Berlin  and  Vienna,  realized  that  it  meant  war,  and  a  world  war  too. 
The  English  fleet,  which  happened  to  have  been  holding  a  naval  review, 
was  not  demobilized. 

The  British  Government  labored  to  make  the  Serbian  reply 
conciliatory,  and  <>:the  Serbian  answer  was  hi  keeping  with  the 
British  efforts."  Sir  Edward  Grey  then  proposed  his  plan  of 
mediation  upon  the  two  points  which  Serbia  had  not  wholly  con- 
ceded. Prince  Lichnowsky  writes: 

M.  Cambon  (for  France),  Marquis  Imperial!  (for  Italy),  and  I 
were  to  meet,  with  Sir  Edward  in  the  chair,  and  it  would  have  been  easy 
to  work  out  a  formula  for  the  debated  points,  which  had  to  do  with  the 
co-operation  of  imperial  and  royal  officials  in  the  inquiries  to  be  con- 
ducted at  Belgrade.  By  the  exercise  of  good  will  everything  could  have 
been  settled  in  one  or  two  sittings,  and  the  mere  acceptance  of  the  British 
proposal  would  have  relieved  the  strain  and  further  improved  our  rela- 
tions with  England.  I  seconded  this  plan  with  all  my  energies.  In  vain. 
I  was  told  (by  Berlin)  that  it  would  be  against  the  dignity  of  Austria. 
Of  course,  all  that  was  needed  was  one  hint  from  Berlin  to  Count  Berch- 


68  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

told  (the  Austrian  Foreign  Minister);  he  would  have  satisfied  himself 
with  a  diplomatic  triumph  and  rested  on  the  Serbian  answer.  That  hint 
was  never  given.  On  the  contrary,  pressure  was  brought  in  favor  of 

war.  • 

'After'  our  refusal  Sir  Edward  asked  us  to  come  forward  with  our 
proposal.  We  insisted  on  war.  No  other  answer  could  I  get  (from  Berlin) 
than  that  it  was  a  colossal  condescension  on  the  part  of  Austria  not  to> 
contemplate  any  acquisition  of  territory.  Sir  Edward  justly  pointed 
out  that  one  could  reduce  a  country  to  vassalage  without  acquiring  terri- 
tory; that  Russia  would  see  this,  and  regard  it  as  a  humiliation  not  to 
be  put  up  with.  The  impression  grew  stronger  and  stronger  that  we  were- 
bent  on  war.  Otherwise  our  attitude  toward  a  question  in  which  we 
were  not  directly  concerned  was  incomprehensible.  The  insistent  requests 
and  well-defined  declarations  of  M.  Sasanof,  the  Czar's  positively  humble 
telegrams,  Sir  Edward's  repeated  proposals,  the  warnings  of  Marquis 
San  Guiliano  and  of  Bollati,  my  own  pressing  admonitions  were  all  of  no 
avail.  Berlin  remained  inflexible — Serbia  must  be  slaughtered. 

Then,  on  the  29th,  Sir  Edward  decided  upon  his  well-known  warn- 
ing. I  told  him  I  had  always  reported  (to  Berlin)  that  we  should  have  to 
reckon  with  English  opposition  if  it  came  to  a  war  with  France.  Time 
and  again  the  Minister  said  to  me,  "If  war  breaks  out  it  will  be  the  great- 
est catastrophe  the  world  has  ever  seen."  And  now  events  moved  rapidly. 
Count  Berchtold  at  last  decided  to  come  around,  having  up  to  that  point 
played  the  r61e  of  "Strong  man"  under  guidance  of  Berlin.  Thereupon 
we  (in  answer  to  Russia's  mobilization)  sent  our  ultimatum  and  declara- 
tion of  war — after  Russia  had  spent  a  whole  week  in  fruitless  negotiation 
and  waiting. 

Thus  ended  my  mission  in  London.  It  had  suffered  shipwreck,  not 
on  the  wiles  of  the  Briton  but  on  the  wiles  of  our  own  policy.  Were  not 
those  right  who  saw  that  the  German  people  was  pervaded  with  the 
spirit  of  Treitschke  and  Bernhardi,  which  glorifies  war  as  an  end  instead 
of  holding  it  in  abhorrence  as  an  evil  thing?  Properly  speaking  militarism 
is  a  school  for  the  people  and  an  instrument  to  further  political  ends.  But 
in  the  patriarchal  absolutism  of  a  military  monarchy,  militarism  exploits 
politics  to  further  its  own  ends,  and  can  create  a  situation  which  a  democ- 
racy freed  from  junkerdom  would  not  tolerate. 

That  is  what  our  enemies  think;    that  is  what  they  are  bound  to 
think  when  they  see  that  hi  spite  of  capitalistic  industrialism,  and  in  spite 
socialistic  organizations,  the  living,  as  Nietzsche  said,  are  still  ruled 
by  the  dead.     The  democratization  of  Germany,  the  first  war  aim  pro- 
posed by  our  enemies,  will  become  a  reality. 

This  is  the  frank  statement  of  a  great  German  statesman  made 

ong  before  Germany  received  its  knock-out  blow.    It  was  written 

when  Germany  was  sweeping  all  before  it  on  land,  and  when  the 

-boat  was  at  the  height  of  its  murderous  powers  on  the  high  seas. 


THE   PLOTTER  BEHIND  THE  SCENES         69 

No  one  in  nor  out  of  Germany  has  controverted  any  of  its  statements 
and  it  will  forever  remain  as  one  of  the  counts  in  the  indictment 
against  Germany  and  the  sole  cause  of  the  world's  greatest  misery, 
the  war. 

America's  outstanding  authority  on  matters  of  international 
conduct,  former  Secretary  of  State  Elihu  Root  declared  that  the 
World  War  was  a  mighty  and  all-embracing  struggle  between  two 
conflicting  principles  of  human  right  and  human  duty;  it  was  a 
conflict  between  the  divine  right  of  kings  to  govern  mankind  through 
armies  and  nobles,  and  the  right  of  the  peoples  of  the  earth  who  toil 
and  endure  and  aspire  to  govern  themselves  by  law  under  justice, 
and  in  the  freedom  of  individual  manhood. 

After  the  declaration  of  war  against  Russia  by  Germany, 
events  marched  rapidly  and  inevitably  toward  the  general  con- 
flagration. Germany's  most  strenuous  efforts  were  directed 
toward  keeping  England  out  of  the  conflict.  We  have  seen  in  the 
revelations  of  Prince  Lichnowsky  how  eager  was  England  to  divert 
Germany's  murderous  purpose.  There  are  some  details,  however, 
required  to  fill  in  the  diplomatic  picture. 

President  Poincare,  of  the  French  Republic,  on  July  30th, 
asked  the  British  Ambassador  in  Paris  for  an  assurance  of  British 
support.  On  the  folio  whig  day  he  addressed  a  similar  letter  to 
King  George  of  England.  Both  requests  were  qualifiedly  refused 
on  the  ground  that  England  wished  to  be  free  to  continue  negotia- 
tions with  Germany  for  the  purpose  of  averting  the  war.  In  the 
meantime,  the  German  Government  addressed  a  note  to  England 
offering  guarantees  for  Belgian  integrity,  providing  Belgium  did 
not  side  with  France,  offering  to  respect  the  neutrality  of  Holland 
and  giving  assurance  that  no  French  territory  hi  Europe  would  be 
annexed  if  Germay  won  the  war.  Sir  Edward  Grey  described  this 
as  a  "shameful  proposal, "  and  rejected  it  on  July  30th. 

On  July  31st  England  sent  a  note  to  France  and  Germany 
asking  for  a  statement  of  purpose  concerning  Belgian  neutrality. 
France  immediately  announced  that  it  would  respect  the  treaty 
of  1839  and  its  reaffirmation  in  1870,  guaranteeing  Belgium's 
neutrality.  This  treaty  was  entered  into  by  Germany,  England, 
France,  Austria  and  Russia.  Germany's  reply  on  August  1st  was 
a  proposal  that  she  would  respect  the  neutrality  of  Belgium  if 
England  would  stay  out  of  the  war.  This  was  promptly  declined. 


70  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

On  August  2d  the  British  cabinet  agreed  that  if  the  German  fleet 
attempted  to  attack  the  coast  of  France  the  British  fleet  would 
intervene.  Germany,  the  next  day,  sent  a  note  agreeing  to  refrain 
from  naval  attacks  on  France  provided  England  would  remain 
neutral,  but  declined  to  commit  herself  as  to  the  neutrality  of 
Belgium.  Before  this,  however,  on  August  2d,  Germany  had 
announced  to  Belgium  its  intention  to  enter  Belgium  for  the  purpose 
of  attacking  France.  The  Belgian  Minister  hi  London  made  an 
appeal  to  the  British  Foreign  Office  and  was  informed  that  invasion 
of  Belgium  by  Germany  would  be  followed  by  England's  declaration 
of  war.  Monday,  August  3d,  was  signalized  by  Belgium's  dec- 
laration of  its  neutrality  and  its  firm  purpose  to  defend  its  soil 
against  invasion  by  France,  England,  Germany  or  any  other  nation. 

The  actual  invasion  of  Belgium  commenced  on  the  morning  of 
August  4th,  when  twelve  regiments  of  Uhlans  crossed  the  frontier 
near  Vise,  and  came  hi  contact  with  a  Belgian  force  driving  it  back 
upon  Lie"ge.  King  Albert  of  Belgium  promptly  appealed  to  England, 
Russia  and  France  for  aid  in  repelling  the  invader.  England  sent 
an  ultimatum  to  Germany  fixing  midnight  of  August  4th  as  the 
time  for  expiration  of  the  ultimatum.  This  demanded  that  satis- 
factory assurances  be  furnished  immediately  that  Germany  would 
respect  the  neutrality  of  Belgium.  No  reply  was  made  by  Germany 
and  England's  declaration  of  war  followed. 

Chancellor  von  Bethmann-Hollweg,  of  the  German  Empire, 
wrote  Germany's  infamy  into  history  when,  in  a  formal  statement, 
he  acknowledged  that  the  invasion*  of  Belgium  was  "a  wrong  that 
we  will  try  to  make  good  again  as  soon  as  our  military  ends  have 
been  reached."  To  Sir  Edward  Vochen,  British  Ambassador  to 
Germany,  he  addressed  the  inquiry:  "Is  it  the  purpose  of  your 
country  to  make  war  upon  Germany  for  the  sake  of  a  scrap 
of  paper?"  The  treaty  of  1839-1870  guaranteeing  Belgium's 
neutrality  was  the  scrap  of  paper. 

With  the  entrance  of  England  into  the  war,  the  issue  between 
autocracy  and  democracy  was  made  plain  before  the  people  of  the 
world.  Austria,  and  later  Turkey,  joined  with  Germany;  France, 
and  Japan,  by  reason  of  their  respective  treaty  obligations  joined 
England  and  Russia.  Italy  for  the  time  preferred  to  remain  neu- 
tral, ignoring  her  implied  alliance  with  the  Teutonic  empires. 
How  other  nations  lined  up  on  the  one  side  and  the  other  is  indicated 


THE  PLOTTER  BEHIND  THE  SCENES  73 

by  the  State  Department's  list  of  war  declarations,  and  diplomatic 
severances,  which  follows: 

Austria  against  Belgium,  Aug.  28,  1914. 

Austria  against  Japan,  Aug.  27,  1914. 

Austria  against  Montenegro,  Aug.  9,  1914. 

Austria  against  Russia,  Aug.  6,  1914. 

Austria  against  Serbia,  July  28,  1914. 

Belgium  against  Germany,  Aug.  4,  1914. 

Brazil  against  Germany,  Oct.  26,  1917. 

Bulgaria  against  Serbia,  Oct.  14,  1915. 

China  against  Austria,  Aug.  14,  1917. 

China  against  Germany,  Aug.  14,  1917. 

Costa  Rica  against  Germany,  May  23,  1918. 

Cuba  against  Germany,  April  7,  1917. 

Cuba  against  Austria-Hungary,  Dec.  16,  1917. 

France  against  Austria,  Aug.  13,  1914. 

France  against  Bulgaria,  Oct.  16,  1915. 

France  against  Germany,  Aug.  3,  1914. 

France  against  Turkey,  Nov.  5,  1914. 

Germany  against  Belgium,  Aug.  4,  1914. 

Germany  against  France,  Aug.  3,  1914. 

Germany  against  Portugal,  March  9,  1916. 

Germany  against  Roumania,  Sept.  14,  1916. 

Germany  against  Russia,  Aug.  1,  1914. 

Great  Britain  against  Austria,  Aug.  13,  1914. 

Great  Britain  against  Bulgaria,  Oct.  15,  1915. 

Great  Britain  against  Germany,  Aug.  4,  1914. 

Great  Britain  against  Turkey,  Nov.  5,  1914. 

Greece  against  Bulgaria,  Nov.  28,  1916.     (Provisional  Government.) 

Greece  against  Bulgaria,  July  2,  1917.     (Government  of  Alexander.) 

Greece  against  Germany,  Nov.  28,  1916.     (Provisional  Government.) 

Greece  against  Germany,  July  2,  1917.     (Government  of  Alexander.) 

Guatemala  against  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary,  April  22,  1918. 

Haiti  against  Germany,  July  15,  1918. 

Honduras  against  Germany,  July  19,  1918. 

Italy  against  Austria,  May  24,  1915. 

Italy  against  Bulgaria,  Oct.  19,  1915. 

Italy  against  Germany,  Aug.  28,  1916. 

Italy  against  Turkey,  Aug.  21,  1915. 

Japan  against  Germany,  Aug.  23,  1914. 

Liberia  against  Germany,  Aug.  4,  1917. 

Montenegro  against  Austria,  Aug.  8,  1914. 

Montenegro  against  Germany,  Aug.  9,  1914. 

Nicaragua  against  Germany,  May  24,  1918. 

Panama  against  Germany,  April  7,  1917. 


74  HISTORY  OF^THE  WORLD  WAR 

Panama  against  Austria,  Dec.  10,  1917. 

Portugal  against  Germany,  Nov.  23,  1914.  (Resolution  passed 
authorizing  military  intervention  as  ally  of  England.) 

Portugal  against  Germany,  May  19,  1915.     (Military  aid  granted.) 

Roumania  against  Austria,  Aug.  27,  1916.  (Allies  of  Austria  also 
consider  it  a  declaration.) 

Russia  against  Germany,  Aug.  7,  1914. 

Russia  against  Bulgaria,  Oct.  19,  1915. 

Russia  against  Turkey,  Nov.  3,  1914. 

San  Marino  against  Austria,  May  24,  1915. 

Serbia  against  Bulgaria,  Oct.  16,  1915. 

Serbia  against  Germany,  Aug.  6,  1914. 

Serbia  against  Turkey,  Dec.  2,  1914. 

Siam  against  Austria,  July  22,  1917. 

Siam  against  Germany,  July  22,  1917. 

Turkey  against  Allies,  Nov.  23,  1914. 

Turkey  against  Roumania,  Aug.  29,  1916. 

United  States  against  Germany,  April  6,  1917. 

United  States  against  Austria-Hungary,  Dec.  7,  1917. 

SEVERANCE  OF  DIPLOMATIC  RELATIONS 

The  Nations  that  formally  severed  relations  whether  afterward 
declaring  war  or  not,  are  as  follows: 
Austria  against  Japan,  Aug.  26,  1914. 
Austria  against  Portugal,  March  16,  1916. 
Austria  against  Serbia,  July  26,  1914. 
Austria  against  United  States,  April  8,  1917. 
Bolivia  against  Germany,  April  14,  1917. 
Brazil  against  Germany,  April  11,  1917. 
China  against  Germany,  March  14,  1917. 
Costa  Rica  against  Germany,  Sept.  21,  1917. 
Ecuador  against  Germany,  Dec.  7,  1917. 
Egypt  against  Germany,  Aug.  13,  1914. 
France  against  Austria,  Aug.  10,  1914. 

Greece  against  Turkey,  July  2,  1917.     (Government  of  Alexander.) 
Greece  against  Austria,  July  2,  1917.     (Government  of  Alexander ) 

-uatemala  against  Germany,  April  27,  1917. 
Haiti  against  Germany,  June  17,  1917. 
Honduras  against  Germany,  May  17,  1917. 
Nicaragua  against  Germany,  May  18,  1917. 
Peru  against  Germany,  Oct.  6,  1917. 
Santo  Domingo  against  Germany,  June  8  1917 
Turkey  against  United  States,  April  20,  1917. 
united  States  against  Germany,  Feb.  3,  1917 
Uruguay  against  Germany,  Oct.  7,  1917. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  GREAT  WAR  BEGINS 

YEARS  before   1914,  when  Germany  declared  war  against 
civilization,  it  was  decided  by  the  German  General  Staff 
to  strike  at  France  through  Belgium.     The  records  of  the 
German  Foreign  Office  prove  that  fact.     The  reason  for 
this  lay  in  the  long  line  of  powerful  fortresses  along  the  line  that 
divides  France  from  Germany  and  the  sparsely  spaced  and  com- 
paratively out-of-date  forts  on  the  border  between  Germany  and 
Belgium.     True,  there  was  a  treaty  guaranteeing  the  inviolability 
of  Belgian  territory  to  which  Germany  was  a  signatory  party. 
Some  of  the  clauses  of  that  treaty  were: 

Article  9.  Belgium,  within  the  limits  traced  in  conformity  with  the 
principles  laid  down  in  the  present  preliminaries,  shall  form  a  perpetually 
neutral  state.  The  five  powers  (England,  France,  Austria,  Prussia  and 
Russia),  without  wishing  to  intervene  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Belgium, 
guarantee  her  that  perpetual  neutrality  as  well  as  the  integrity  and 
inviolability  of  her  territory  in  the  limits  mentioned  in  the  present  article. 

Article  10.  By  just  reciprocity  Belgium  shall  be  held  to  observe  this 
same  neutrality  toward  all  the  other  states  and  to  make  no  attack  on  their 
internal  or  external  tranquillity  while  always  preserving  the  right  to 
defend  herself  against  any  foreign  aggression. 

This  agreement  was  followed  on  January  23,  1839,  by  a  defini- 
tive treaty,  accepted  by  Belgium  and  by  the  Netherlands,  which 
treaty  regulates  Belgium's  neutrality  as  follows: 

Article  7.  Belgium,  within  the  limits  defined  in  Articles  1,  2  and  4, 
shall  form  an  independent  and  perpetually  neutral  state.  She  is  obligated 
to  preserve  this  neutrality  against  all  the  other  states. 

To  convert  this  solemn  covenant  into  a  "scrap  of  paper"  it 
was  necessary  that  Germany  should  find  an  excuse  for  tearing  it 
to  pieces.  There  was  absolutely  no  provocation  in  sight,  but  that 
did  not  deter  the  German  High  Command.  That  august  body  with 
no  information  whatever  to  afford  an  excuse,  alleged  in  a  formal 
note  to  the  Belgian  Government  that  the  French  army  intended 

75 


76  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

to  invade  Germany  through  Belgian  territory.     This  hypocritical 
and  mendacious  note  and  Belgium's  vigorous  reply  follow: 

Note  handed  in  on  August  2,  1914,  at  7  o'clock  p.  M.,  by  Herr  von 
Below-Saleske,  German  Minister,  to  M.  Davignon,  Belgian  Minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs. 

BRUSSELS,  2d  August,  1914. 

IMPERIAL  GERMAN  LEGATION  IN  BELGIUM 

(Highly  confidential) 

The  German  Government  has  received  reliable  information  according 
to  which  the  French  forces  intend  to  march  on  the  Meuse,  by  way  of 
Givet  and  Namur.  This  information  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  intention 
of  France  of  marching  on  Germany  through  Belgian  territory.  The  Impe- 
rial Government  cannot  avoid  the  fear  that  Belgium,  in  spite  of  its  best 
will,  will  be  in  no  position  to  repulse  such  a  largely  developed  French 
march  without  aid.  In  this  fact  there  is  sufficient  certainty  of  a  threat 
directed  against  Germany. 

It  is  an  imperative  duty  for  the  preservation  of  Germany  to  forestall 
this  attack  of  the  enemy. 

The  German  Government  would  feel  keen  regret  if  Belgium  should 
regard  as  an  act  of  hostility  against  herself  the  fact  that  the  measures  of 
the  enemies  of  Germany  oblige  her  on  her  part  to  violate  Belgian  territory. 

In  order  to  dissipate  any  misunderstanding  the  German  Government 
declares  as  follows: 

1.  Germany  does  not  contemplate  any  act  of  hostility  against  Bel- 
gium.   If  Belgium  consents  in  the  war  about  to  commence  to  take  up  an 
attitude  of  friendly  neutrality  toward  Germany,  the  German  Government 
on  its  part  undertakes,  on  the  declaration  of  peace,  to  guarantee  the 
kingdom  and  its  possessions  in  their  whole  extent. 

2.  Germany  undertakes  under  the  conditions  laid  down  to  evacuate 
Belgian  territory  as  soon  as  peace  is  concluded. 

3.  If  Belgium  preserves  a  friendly  attitude,  Germany  is  prepared,  in 
agreement  with  the  authorities  of  the  Belgian  Government,  to  buy  against 
cash  all  that  is  required  by  her  troops,  and  to  give  indemnity  for  the 
damages  caused  in  Belgium. 

4.  If  Belgium  behaves  in  a  hostile  manner  toward  the  German  troops, 
and  m  particular  raises  difficulties  against  their  advance  by  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  fortifications  of  the  Meuse,  or  by  destroying  roads,  railways, 
tunnels   or  other  engineering  works,  Germany  will  be  compelled  to  con- 
sider Belgium  as  an  enemy. 

In  this  case  Germany  will  take  no  engagements  toward  Belgium,  but 

c  will  leave  the  later  settlement  of  relations  of  the  two  states  toward 

le  another  to  the  decision  of  arms.     The  German  Government  has  a 

I  hope  that  this  contingency  will  not  arise  and  that  the  Belgian 


THE  GREAT  WAR  BEGINS  77 

Government  will  know  how  to  take  suitable  measures  to  hinder  its  taking 
place.  In  this  case  the  friendly  relations  which  unite  the  two  neighbor- 
ing states  will  become  closer  and  more  lasting. 

THE  REPLY  BY  BELGIUM 

Note  handed  in  by  M.  Davignon,  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  to 
Herr  von  Below-Saleske,  German  Minister. 

BRUSSELS,  3d  August,  1914. 
(7  o'clock  in  the  morning.) 

By  the  note  of  the  2d  August,  1914,  the  German  Government  has 
made  known  that  according  to  certain  intelligence  the  French  forces 
intend  to  march  on  the  Meuse  via  Givet  and  Namur  and  that  Belgium, 
in  spite  of  her  good-will,  would  not  be  able  without  help  to  beat  off  an 
advance  of  the  French  troops. 

The  German  Government  felt  it  to  be  its  duty  to  forestall  this 
attack  and  to  violate  Belgian  territory.  Under  these  conditions  Germany 
proposes  to  the  King's  Government  to  take  up  a  friendly  attitude,  and 
undertakes  at  the  moment  of  peace  to  guarantee  the  integrity  of  the  king- 
dom and  of  her  possessions  in  their  whole  extent.  The  note  adds  that  if 
Belgium  raises  difficulties  to  the  forward  march  of  the  German  troops 
Germany  will  be  compelled  to  consider  her  as  an  enemy  and  to  leave  the 
later  settlement  of  the  two  states  toward  one  another  to  the  decision  of 
arms. 

This  note  caused  profound  and  painful  surprise  to  the  King's 
Government. 

The  intentions  which  it  attributed  to  France  are  in  contradiction 
with  the  express  declarations  which  were  made  to  us  on  the  1st  of  August, 
in  the  name  of  the  government  of  the  republic. 

Moreover,  if,  contrary  to  our  expectation,  a  violation  of  Belgian 
neutrality  were  to  be  committed  by  France,  Belgium  would  fulfil  all  her 
international  duties  and  her  army  would  offer  the  most  vigorous  opposition 
to  the  invader. 

The  treaties  of  1839,  confirmed  by  the  treaties  of  1870,  establish 
the  independence  and  the  neutrality  of  Belgium  under  the  guarantee  of 
the  powers,  and  particularly  of  the  Government  of  his  Majesty  the  King 
of  Prussia. 

Belgium  has  always  been  faithful  to  her  international  obligations; 
she  has  fulfilled  her  duties  in  a  spirit  of  loyal  impartiality;  she  has  neglected 
no  effort  to  maintain  her  neutrality  or  to  make  it  respected. 

The  attempt  against  her  independence  with  which  the  German 
Government  threatens  her  would  constitute  a  flagrant  violation  of 
international  law.  No  strategic  interest  justifies  the  violation  of  that  law. 

The  Belgian  Government  would,  by  accepting  the  propositions 
which  are  notified  to  her,  sacrifice  the  honor  of  the  nation  while  at  the 
same  time  betraying  her  duties  toward  Europe. 


78  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Conscious  of  the  part  Belgium  has  played  for  more  than  eighty  years 
in  the  civilization  of  the  world,  she  refuses  to  believe  that  the  independence 
of  Belgium  can  be  preserved  only  at  the  expense  of  the  violation  of  her 

neutrality. 

If  this  hope  were  disappointed  the  Belgian  Government  has  firmly 
resolved  to  repulse  by  every  means  in  her  power  any  attack  upon  her 
rights. 

The  German  attack  upon  Belgium  and  France  came  with 
terrible  force  and  suddenness.  Twenty-four  army  corps,  divided 
into  three  armies  clad  in  a  specially  designed  and  colored  gray- 
green  uniform,  swept  in  three  mighty  streams  over  the  German 
borders  with  their  objective  the  heart  of  France.  The  Army  of 
the  Meuse  was  given  the  route  through  Liege,  Namur  and  Mau- 
beuge.  The  Army  of  the  Moselle  violated  the  Duchy  of  Luxem- 
burg, which,  under  a  treaty  guaranteeing  its  independence  and 
neutrality,  was  not  permitted  to  maintain  an  army.  Germany 
was  a  signatory  party  to  this  treaty  also.  The  Army  of  the  Rhine 
cut  through  the  Vosges  Mountains  and  its  route  lay  between  the 
French  cities  of  Nancy  and  Toul. 

The  heroic  defense  of  the  Belgian  army  at  Lie*ge  against  the 
Army  of  the  Meuse  delayed  the  operation  of  Germany's  plans  and 
in  all  probability  saved  Paris.  It  was  the  first  of  many  similar 
disappointments  and  checks  that  Germany  encountered  during 
the  war. 

The  defense  of  Lie*ge  continued  for  ten  heroic  days.  Within 
that  interval  the  first  British  Expeditionary  Forces  were  landed  in 
France  and  Belgium,  the  French  army  was  mobilized  to  full 
strength.  The  little  Belgian  army  falling  back  northward  on 
Antwerp,  Louvain  and  Brussels,  threatened  the  German  flank  and 
approximately  200,000  German  soldiers  were  compelled  to  remain 
in  the  conquered  section  of  Belgium  to  garrison  it  effectively. 

Lie*ge  fortifications  were  the  design  of  the  celebrated  strategist 
Brialmont.  They  consisted  of  twelve  isolated  fortresses  which  had 
been  permitted  to  become  out  of  repair.  No  field  works  of  any 
kind  connected  them  and  they  were  without  provision  for  defense 
against  encircling  tactics  and  against  modern  artillery. 

The  huge  42-centimeter  guns,  the  first  of  Germany's  terrible 
surprises,  were  brought  into  action  against  these  forts,  and  their 
concrete  and  armored  steel  turrets  were  cracked  as  walnuts  are 


THE   GREAT  WAR  BEGINS  79 

cracked  between  the  jaws  of  a  nut-cracker.  The  Army  of  the 
Meuse  then  made  its  way  like  a  gray-green  cloud  of  poison  gas 
through  Belgium.  A  cavalry  screen  of  crack  Uhlan  regiments 
preceded  it,  and  it  made  no  halt  worthy  of  note  until  it  confronted 
the  Belgian  army  on  the  line  running  from  Louvain  to  Namur. 
The  Belgians  were  forced  back  before  Louvain  on  August  20th, 
the  Belgian  Government  removed  the  capital  from  Brussels  to 
Antwerp,  and  the  German  hosts  entered  evacuated  Brussels. 

During  this  advance  of  the  Army  of  the  Meuse,  strong  French 
detachments  invaded  German  soil,  pouring  into  Alsace  through 
the  Belfort  Gap.  Brief  successes  attended  the  bold  stroke.  Mul- 
hausen  was  captured  and  the  Metz-Strassburg  Railroad  was  cut 
in  several  places.  The  French  suffered  a  defeat  almost  immediately 
following  this  first  flush  of  victory,  both  in  Alsace  and  in  Lorraine, 
where  a  French  detachment  had  engaged  with  the  Army  of  the 
Moselle.  The  French  army  thereupon  retreated  to  the  strong  line 
of  forts  and  earthworks  defending  the  border  between  France  and 
Germany. 

England's  first  expeditionary  force  landed  at  Ostend,  Calais 
and  Dunkirk  on  August  7th.  It  was  dubbed  England's  "  con- 
temptible little  army"  by  the  German  General  Staff.  That  name 
was  seized  upon  gladly  by  England  as  a  spur  to  volunteering.  It 
brought  to  the  surface  national  pride  and  a  fierce  determination 
to  compel  Germany  to  recognize  and  to  reckon  with  the  "con- 
temptible little  army." 

The  contact  between  the  French,  Belgian  and  British  forces 
was  speedily  established  and  something  like  concerted  resistance 
to  the  advance  of  the  enemy  was  made  possible.  The  German 
army,  however,  followed  by  a  huge  equipment  of  motor  kitchens, 
munition  trains,  and  other  motor  transport  evidencing  great  care 
in  preparation  for  the  movement,  swept  resistlessly  forward  until  it 
encountered  the  French  and  British  on  a  line  running  from  Mons 
to  Charleroi. 

The  British  army  was  assigned  to  a  position  between  two 
French  armies.  By  some  miscalculation,  the  French  army  that 
was  to  have  taken  its  position  on  the  British  left,  never  appeared. 
The  French  army  on  the  right  was  attacked  and  defeated  at 
Charleroi,  falling  back  in  some  confuson.  The  German  Army  of 
the  Moselle  co-operating  with  the  Army  of  the  Meuse  then  attacked 


80  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  British  and  French,  and  a  great  flanking  movement  by  the 
German  joint  commands  developed. 

This  was  directed  mainly  at  the  British  under  command  of 
Sir  John  French.  There  followed  a  retreat  that  for  sheer  heroism 
and  dogged  determination  has  become  one  of  the  great  battles  of 
all  tune.  The  British,  outflanked  and  outnumbered  three  to  one, 
fought  and  marched  without  cessation  for  six  days  and  nights. 
Time  after  tune  envelopment  and  disaster  threatened  them,  but 
with  a  determination  that  would  not  be  beaten  they  fought  off 
the  best  that  Germany  could  send  against  them,  maintained 
contact  with  the  French  army  on  their  right,  and  delayed  the 
German  advance  so  effectively  that  a  complete  disarrangement  of 
all  the  German  plans  ensued.  This  was  the  second  great  disap- 
pointment to  Germany.  It  made  possible  the  victory  of  the 
Marne  and  the  victorious  peace  of  1918.  The  story  of  that 
immortal  retreat  is  best  told  in  the  words  of  Sir  John  French, 
transmitting  the  report  of  this  encounter  to  the  British  War  Office: 

"The  transport  of  the  troops  from  England  both  by  sea  and 
by  rail  was  effected  in  the  best  order  and  without  a  check.  Each 
unit  arrived  at  its  destination  well  within  the  scheduled  time. 

"The  concentration  was  practically  complete  on  the  evening 
of  Friday,  the  21st  ultimo,  and  I  was  able  to  make  dispositions  to 
move  the  force  during  Saturday,  the  22d,  to  positions  I  considered 
most  favorable  from  which  to  commence  operations  which  the 
French  commander-in-chief,  General  Joffre,  requested  me  to  under- 
take in  pursuance  of  his  plans  in  prosecution  of  the  campaign. 

"The  line  taken  up  extended  along  the  line  of  the  canal  from 
Conde*  on  the  west,  through  Mons  and  Binche  on  the  east.  This 
line  was  taken  up  as  follows: 

"From  Cond6  to  Mons,  inclusive,  was  assigned  to  the  Second 
Corps,  and  to  the  right  of  the  Second  Corps  from  Mons  the  First 
Corps  was  posted.  The  Fifth  Cavalry  Brigade  was  placed  at 
Binche. 

"In  the  absence  of  my  Third  Army  Corps  I  desired  to  keep  the 
cavalry  divisions  as  much  as  possible  as  a  reserve  to  act  on  my 
outer  flank,  or  move  hi  support  of  any  threatened  part  of  the  line. 
The  forward  reconnoissance  was  intrusted  to  Brig.-Gen.  Sir  Philip 
Chetwode,  with  the  Fifth  Cavalry  Brigade,  but  I  directed  General 
Allenby  to  send  forward  a  few  squadrons  to  assist  hi  this  work. 


THE   GREAT  WAR  BEGINS  81 

"During  the  22d  and  23d  these  advanced  squadrons  did 
some  excellent  work,  some  of  them  penetrating  as  far  as  Soignies, 
and  several  encounters  took  place  in  which  our  troops  showed  to 
great  advantage. 

"2.  At  6  A.  M.,  on  August  23d,  I  assembled  the  commanders  of 
the  First  and  Second  Corps  and  cavalry  division  at  a  point  close 
to  the  position  and  explained  the  general  situation  of  the  Allies, 
and  what  I  understood  to  be  General  Joffre's  plan.  I  discussed 
with  them  at  some  length  the  immediate  situation  in  front  of  us. 

"From  information  I  received  from  French  headquarters  I 
understood  that  little  more  than  one,  or  at  most  two,  of  the  enemy's 
army  corps,  with  perhaps  one  cavalry  division,  were  in  front  of 
my  position;  and  I  was  aware  of  no  attempted  outflanking  move- 
ment by  the  enemy.  I  was  confirmed  in  this  opinion  by  the  fact 
that  my  patrols  encountered  no  undue  opposition  hi  then*  recon- 
noitering  operations.  The  observations  of  my  airplanes  seemed 
to  bear  out  this  estimate. 

"About  3  P.  M.  on  Sunday,  the  23d,  reports  began  coming  hi 
to  the  effect  that  the  enemy  was  commencing  an  attack  on  the 
Mons  line,  apparently  in  some  strength,  but  that  the  right  of  the 
position  from  Mons  and  Bray  was  being  particularly  threatened. 

"The  commander  of  the  First  Corps  had  pushed  his  flank 
back  to  some  high  ground  south  of  Bray,  and  the  Fifth  Cavalry 
Brigade  evacuated  Binche,  moving  slightly  south;  the  enemy 
thereupon  occupied  Binche. 

"The  right  of  the  Third  Division,  under  General  Hamilton,  was 
at  Mons,  which  formed  a  somewhat  dangerous  salient;  and  I 
directed  the  commander  of  the  Second  Corps  to  be  careful  not  to 
keep  the  troops  on  this  salient  too  long,  but,  if  threatened  seriously, 
to  draw  back  the  center  behind  Mons.  This  was  done  before  dark. 
In  the  meantime,  about  5  p.  M.,  I  received  a  most  unexpected 
message  from  General  Joffre  by  telegraph,  telling  me  that  at  least 
three  German  corps,  viz.,  a  reserve  corps,  the  Fourth  Corps  and 
the  Ninth  Corps,  were  moving  on  my  position  in  front,  and  that 
the  Second  Corps  was  engaged  hi  a  turning  movement  from  the 
direction  of  Tournay.  He  also  informed  me  that  the  two  reserve 
French  divisions  and  the  Fifth  French  army  on  my  right  were 
retiring,  the  Germans  having  on  the  previous  day  gained  possession 
of  the  passages  of  the  Sambre,  between  Charleroi  and  Namur. 
a 


82  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

"3.  In  view  of  the  possibility  of  my  being  driven  from  the 
Mons  position,  I  had  previously  ordered  a  position  in  rear  to  be 
reconnoitered.  This  position  rested  on  the  fortress  of  Maubeuge 
on  the  right  and  extended  west  to  Jenlain,  southest  to  Valenciennes, 
on  the  left.  The  position  was  reported  difficult  to  hold,  because 
standing  crops  and  buildings  made  the  placing  of  trenches  very 
difficult  and  limited  the  field  of  fire  in  many  important  localities. 
It  nevertheless  afforded  a  few  good  artillery  positions. 

"When  the  news  of  the  retirement  of  the  French  and  the 
heavy  German  threatening  on  my  front  reached  me,  I  endeavored 
to  confirm  it  by  airplane  reconnoissance;  and  as  a  result  of  this  I 
determined  to  effect  a  retirement  to  the  Maubeuge  position  at 
daybreak  on  the  24th. 

"A  certain  amount  of  fighting  continued  along  the  whole 
line  throughout  the  night  and  at  daybreak  on  the  24th  the  Second 
Division  from  the  neighborhood  of  Harmignies  made  a  powerful 
demonstration  as  if  to  retake  Binche.  This  was  supported  by  the 
artillery  of  both  the  First  and"  Second  Divisions,  while  the  First 
Division  took  up  a  supporting  position  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Peissant.  Under  cover  of  this  demonstration  the  Second  Corps 
retired  on  the  line  Dour-Quarouble-Frame"ries.  The  Third  Division 
on  the  right  of  the  corps  suffered  considerable  loss  in  this  operation 
from  the  enemy,  who  had  retaken  Mons. 

"The  Second  Corps  halted  on  this  line,  where  they  partially 
intrenched  themselves,  enabling  Sir  Douglas  Haig  with  the  First 
Corps  gradually  to  withdraw  to  the  new  position;  and  he  effected 
this  without  much  further  loss,  reaching  the  line  Bavai-Maubeuge 
about  7  P.  M.  Toward  midday  the  enemy  appeared  to  be  directing 
his  principal  effort  against  our  left. 

"I  had  previously  ordered  General  Allenby  with  the  cavalry  to 
act  vigorously  hi  advance  of  my  left  front  and  endeavor  to  take 
the  pressure  off. 

"About  7.30  A.  M.  General  Allenby  received  a  message  from  Sir 
Charles  Ferguson,  commanding  the  Fifth  Division,  saying  that  he 
was  very  hard  pressed  and  in  urgent  need  of  support.  On  receipt 
of  this  message  General  Allenby  drew  in  the  cavalry  and  endeav- 
ored to  bring  direct  support  to  the  Fifth  Division. 

"During  the  course  of  this  operation  General  De  Lisle,  of  the 
Second  Cavalry  Brigade,  thought  he  saw  a  good  opportunity  to 


THE  GREAT  WAR  BEGINS  83 

paralyze  the  further  advance  of  the  enemy's  infantry  by  making  a 
mounted  attack  on  his  flank.  He  formed  up  and  advanced  for 
this  purpose,  but  was  held  up  by  wire  about  five  hundred  yards 
from  his  objective,  and  the  Ninth  Lancers  and  the  Eighteenth 
Hussars  suffered  severely  in  the  retirement  of  the  brigade. 

"The  Nineteenth  Infantry  Brigade,  which  had  been  guarding 
the  line  of  communications,  was  brought  up  by  rail  to  Valenciennes 
on  the  22d  and  23d.  On  the  morning  of  the  24th  they  were 
moved  out  to  a  position  south  of  Quarouble  to  support  the  left 
flank  of  the  Second  Corps. 

"With  the  assistance  of  the  cavalry  Sir  Horace  Smith-Dorrien 
was  enabled  to  effect  his  retreat  to  a  new  position;  although, 
having  two  corps  of  the  enemy  on  his  front  and  one  threatening 
his  flank,  he  suffered  great  losses  hi  doing  so. 

"At  nightfall  the  position  was  occupied  by  the  Second  Corps 
to  the  west  of  Bavai,  the  First  Corps  to  the  right.  The  right  was 
protected  by  the  Fortress  of  Maubeuge,  the  left  by  the  Nineteenth 
Brigade  in  position  between  Jenlain  and  Bry,  and  the  cavalry  on 
the  outer  flank. 

"4.  The  French  were  still  retiring,  and  I  had  no  support 
except  such  as  was  afforded  by  the  Fortress  of  Maubeuge;  and  the 
determined  attempts  of  the  enemy  to  get  round  my  left  flank 
assured  me  that  it  was  his  intention  to  hem  me  against  that  place 
and  surround  me.  I  felt  that  not  a  moment  must  be  lost  in  retiring 
to  another  position. 

"I  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  enemy's  forces  were 
somewhat  exhausted  and  I  knew  that  they  had  suffered  heavy 
losses.  I  hoped,  therefore,  that  his  pursuit  would  not  be  too 
vigorous  to  prevent  me  effecting  my  object. 

"The  operation,  however,  was  full  of  danger  and  difficulty, 
not  only  owing  to  the  very  superior  force  in  my  front,  but  also  to 
the  exhaustion  of  the  troops. 

"The  retirement  was  recommenced  in  the  early  morning  of 
the  25th  to  a  position  in  the  neighborhood  of  Le  Cateau,  and 
rearguards  were  ordered  to  be  clear  of  the  Maubeuge-Bavai-Eih 
Road  by  5.30  A.  M. 

"Two  cavalry  brigades,  with  the  divisional  cavalry  of  the 
Second  Corps,  covered  the  movement  of  the  Second  Corps.  The 
remainder  of  the  cavalry  division  with  the  Nineteenth  Brigade* 


84  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  whole  under  the  command  of  General  Allenby,  covered  the 
west  flank. 

"The  Fourth  Division  commenced  its  detrainment  at  Le  Cateau 
on  Sunday,  the  23d,  and  by  the  morning  of  the  25th  eleven  bat- 
talions and  a  brigade  of  artillery  with  divisional  staff  were  available 
for  service. 

"I  ordered  General  Snow  to  move  out  to  take  up  a  position 
with  his  right  south  of  Solesmes,  his  left  resting  on  the  Cambrai- 
LeCateau  Road  south  of  La  Chaprie.  In  this  position  the  division 
rendered  great  help  to  the  effective  retirement  of  the  Second  and 
First  Corps  to  the  new  position. 

"  Although  the  troops  had  been  ordered  to  occupy  the  Cambrai- 
Le  Cateau-Landrecies  position,  and  the  ground  had,  during  the 
25th,  been  partially  prepared  and  intrenched,  I  had  grave  doubts, 
owing  to  the  information  I  had  received  as  to  the  accumulating 
strength  of  the  enemy  against  me — as  to  the  wisdom  of  standing 
there  to  fight. 

"Having  regard  to  the  continued  retirement  of  the  French  on 
my  right,  my  exposed  left  flank,  the  tendency  of  the  enemy's 
western  corps  (II)  to  envelop  me,  and,  more  than  all,  the  exhausted 
condition  of  the  troops,  I  determined  to  make  a  great  effort  to 
continue  the  retreat  until  I  could  put  some  substantial  obstacle, 
such  as  the  Somme  or  the  Oise,  between  my  troops  and  the  enemy, 
and  afford  the  former  some  opportunitj"  of  rest  and  reorganization. 
Orders  were,  therefore,  sent  to  the  corps  commanders  to  continue 
then1  retreat  as  soon  as  they  possibly  could  toward  the  general 
line  Vermand-St.  Quentin-Ribemont. 

"The  cavalry  under  General  Allenby,  were  ordered  to  cover 
the  retirement. 

"Throughout  the  25th  and  far  into  the  evening,  the  First 
Corps  continued  its  march  on  Landrecies,  following  the  road 
along  the  eastern  border  of  the  Foret  de  Mormal,  and  arrived  at 
Landrecies  about  10  o'clock.  I  had  intended  that  the  corps  should 
come  further  west  so  as  to  fill  up  the  gap  between  Le  Cateau  and 
Landrecies,  but  the  men  were  exhausted  and  could  not  get  further 
in  without  rest. 

uThe  enemy,  however,  would  not  allow  them  this  rest,  and 
about  9.30  p.  M.  a  report  was  received  that  the  Fourth  Guards 
Brigade  in  Landrecies  was  heavily  attacked  by  troops  of  the  Ninth 


THE   GREAT  WAR  BEGINS  85 

German  Army  Corps,  who  were  coming  through  the  forest  on  the 
north  of  the  town.  This  brigade  fought  most  gallantly,  and 
caused  the  enemy  to  suffer  tremendous  loss  in  issuing  from  the 
forest  into  the  narrow  streets  of  the  town.  This  loss  has  been 
estimated  from  reliable  sources  at  from  700  to  1,000.  At  the  same 
time  information  reached  me  from  Sir  Douglas  Haig  that  his 
First  Division  was  also  heavily  engaged  south  and  east  of  Maroilles. 
I  sent  urgent  messages  to  the  commander  of  the  two  French  reserve 
divisions  on  my  right  to  come  up  to  the  assistance  of  the  First 
Corps,  which  they  eventually  did.  Partly  owing  to  this  assistance, 
but  mainly  to  the  skilful  manner  in  which  Sir  Douglas  Haig  extri- 
cated his  corps  from  an  exceptionally  difficult  position  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  they  were  able  at  dawn  to  resume  their 
march  south  toward  Wassigny  on  Guise. 

"By  about  6  P.  M.  the  Second  Corps  had  got  into  position  with 
their  right  on  Le  Cateau,  their  left  in  the  neighborhood  of  Caudry, 
and  the  line  of  defense  was  continued  thence  by  the  Fourth  Division 
toward  Seranvillers,  the  left  being  thrown  back. 

"During  the  fighting  on  the  24th  and  25th  the  cavalry  became 
a  good  deal  scattered,  but  by  the  early  morning  of  the  26th,  General 
Allenby  had  succeeded  in  concentrating  two  brigades  to  the  south 
of  Cambrai. 

"The  Fourth  Division  was  placed  under  the  orders  of  the 
general  officer  commanding  the  Second  Army  Corps. 

"On  the  24th  the  French  Cavalry  Corps,  consisting  of  three 
divisions  under  General  Sordet,  had  been  in  billets  north  of  Avesnes. 
On  my  way  back  from  Bavai,  which  was  my  'Poste  de  Commande- 
ment'  during  the  fighting  of  the  23d  and  24th,  I  visited  General 
Sordet,  and  earnestly  requested  his  co-operation  and  support. 
He  promised  to  obtain  sanction  from  his  army  commander  to  act 
on  my  left  flank,  but  said  that  his  horses  were  too  tired  to  move 
before  the  next  day.  Although  he  rendered  me  valuable  assistance 
later  on  in  the  course  of  the  retirement,  he  was  unable,  for  the  reasons 
given,  to  afford  me  any  support  on  the  most  critical  day  of  all, 
viz.,  the  26th. 

"At  daybreak  it  became  apparent  that  the  enemy  was  throw- 
ing the  bulk  of  his  strength  against  the  left  of  the  position  occupied 
by  the  Second  Corps  and  the  Fourth  Division. 

"At  this  time  the  guns  of  four  German  army  corps  were  in 


86  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

position  against  them,  and  Sir  Horace  Smith-Dorrien  reported  to 
me  that  he  judged  it  impossible  to  continue  his  retirement  at  day- 
break (as  ordered)  in  face  of  such  an  attack. 

"I  sent  him  orders  to  use  his  utmost  endeavors  to  break  off 
the  action  and  retire  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  as  it  was 
impossible  for  me  to  send  him  any  support,  the  First  Corps  being 
at  the  moment  incapable  of  movement. 

"The  French  Cavalry  Corps,  under  General  Sordet,  was  coming 
up  on  our  left  rear  early  in  the  morning,  and  I  sent  an  urgent  mes- 
sage to  him  to  do  his  utmost  to  come  up  and  support  the  retire- 
ment of  my  left  flank;  but  owing  to  the  fatigue  of  his  horses  he 
found  himself  unable  to  intervene  in  any  way. 

"There  had  been  no  time  to  intrench  the  position  properly, 
but  the  troops  showed  a  magnificent  front  to  the  terrible  fire  which 
confronted  them. 

"The  artillery,  although  outmatched  by  at  least  four  to  one, 
made  a  splendid  fight,  and  inflicted  heavy  losses  on  their  opponents. 

"At  length  it  became  apparent  that,  if  complete  annihilation 
was  to  be  avoided,  a  retirement  must  be  attempted;  and  the  order 
was  given  to  commence  it  about  3.30  P.  M.  The  movement  was 
covered  with  the  most  devoted  intrepidity  and  determination  by  the 
artillery,  which  had  itself  suffered  heavily,  and  the  fine  work  done 
by  the  cavalry  hi  the  further  retreat  from  the  position  assisted 
materially  in  the  final  completion  of  this  most  difficult  and  dan- 
gerous operation. 

"Fortunately  the  enemy  had  himself  suffered  too  heavily  to 
engage  in  an  energetic  pursuit. 

"I  cannot  close  the  brief  account  of  this  glorious  stand  of  the 
British  troops  without  putting  on  record  my  deep  appreciation  of 
the  valuable  services  rendered  by  Gen.  Sir  Horace  Smith-Dorrien. 

"I  say  without  hesitation  that  the  saving  of  the  left  wing 
of  the  army  under  my  command  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  of 
August,  could  never  have  been  accomplished  unless  a  commander 
of  rare  and  unusual  coolness,  intrepidity,  and  determination  had 
been  present  to  personally  conduct  the  operation. 

"The  retreat  was  continued  far  into  the  night  of  the  26th  and 
through  the  27th  and  28th,  on  which  date  the  troops  halted  on  the 
line  Noyon-Chauny-LaFSre,  having  then  thrown  off  the  weight  of 
the  enemy's  pursuit. 


THE   GREAT  WAR   BEGINS  87 

"On  the  27th  and  28th  I  was  much  indebted  to  General  Sordet 
and  the  French  Cavalry  Division  which  he  commands  for  materially 
assisting  my  retirement  and  successfully  driving  back  some  of  the 
enemy  on  Cambrai. 

"This  closes  the  period  covering  the  heavy  fighting  which 
commenced  at  Mons  on  Sunday  afternoon,  23d  August,  and  which 
really  constituted  a  four  days'  battle. 

"It  is  impossible  for  me  to  speak  too  highly  of  the  skill 
evinced  by  the  two  general  officers  commanding  army  corps;  the 
self-sacrificing  and  devoted  exertions  of  then*  staffs;  the  direction 
of  the  troops  by  divisional,  brigade,  and  regimental  leaders;  the 
command  of  the  smaller  units  by  their  officers;  and  the  magnifi- 
cent fighting  spirit  displayed  by  non-commissioned  officers  and  men. 

"I  wish  particularly  to  bring  to  your  Lordship's  notice  the 
admirable  work  done  by  the  Royal  Flying  Corps  under  Sir  David 
Henderson.  Their  skill,  energy,  and  perseverence  have  been 
beyond  all  praise.  They  have  furnished  me  with  the  most  com- 
plete and  accurate  information,  which  has  been  of  incalculable 
value  in  the  conduct  of  the  operations.  Fired  at  constantly  both 
by  friend  and  foe,  and  not  hesitating  to  fly  in  every  kind  of  weather, 
they  have  remained  undaunted  throughout. 

"Further,  by  actually  fighting  in  the  air,  they  have  suc- 
ceeded in  destroying  five  of  the  enemy's  machines." 

The  combined  French  and  British  armies,  including  the 
forces  that  had  retreated  from  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  gave  way 
with  increasing  stubborness  before  von  Kluck.  That  German 
general  disregarding  the  fortresses  surrounding  Paris,  swung 
southward  to  make  a  junction  with  the  Army  of  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Germany  advancing  through  the  Vosges  Mountains.  General 
Manoury's  army  opposed  the  German  advance  on  the  entrenched 
line  of  Paris.  General  Gallieni  commanding  the  garrison  of  Paris, 
was  ready  with  a  novel  mobile  transport  consisting  of  taxicabs 
and  fast  trucks.  The  total  number  of  soldiers  in  the  French  and 
British  armies  now  outnumbered  those  in  the  German  armies 
opposed  to  them. 

General  Joffre,  hi  supreme  command  of  the  French,  had 
chosen  the  battleground.  He  had  set  the  trap  with  consummate 
skill.  The  word  was  given;  the  trap  was  sprung;  and  the  first 
battle  of  the  Marne  came  as  a  crashing  surprise  to  Germany. 


THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  BEAST  IN  BELGIUM 

GERMANY'S   onrush   into  heroic   Belgium   speedily   re- 
solved itself  into  a  saturnalia  that  drenched  the  land 
with  blood  and  roused  the  civilized  world  into  resentful 
horror.     As  the  tide  of  barbarity  swept  forward  into 
Northern  France,  stories  of  the  horrors  filtered  through  the  close 
web  of  German  censorship.    There  were  denials  at  first  by  German 
propagandists.     In  the  face  of  truth  furnished  by  thousands  of 
witnesses,  the  denials  faded  away. 

What  caused  these  atrocities?  Were  they  the  spontaneous 
expression  of  dormant  brutishness  hi  German  soldiers?  Were 
they  a  sudden  reversion  of  an  entire  nation  to  bestiality? 

The  answer  is  that  the  private  soldier  as  an  individual  was 
not  responsible.  The  carnage,  the  rapine,  the  wholesale  desola- 
tion was  an  integral  part  of  the  German  policy  of  schrecklichkeit 
or  frightfulness.  This  policy  was  laid  down  by  Germany  as  part 
of  its  imperial  war  code.  In  1902  Germany  issued  a  new  war 
manual  entitled  "Kriegsbrauch  im  Landkriege."  In  it  is  written 
this  cold-blooded  declaration : 

All  measures  which  conduce  to  the  attainment  of  the  object  of  war 
are  permissible  and  these  may  be  summarized  in  the  two  ideas  of  violence 
and  cunning.  What  is  permissible  includes  every  means  of  war  without 
which  the  object  of  the  war  cannot  be  attained.  All  means  which 
modern  invention  affords,  including  the  fullest,  most  dangerous,  and  most 
massive  means  of  destruction,  may  be  utilized. 

Brand  Whitlock,  United  States  Minister  to  Belgium,  hi  a 
formal  report  to  the  State  Department,  made  this  statement 
concerning  Germany's  policy  hi  permitting  these  outrages: 

"All  these  deliberate  organized  massacres  of  civilians,  all 
these  murders  and  outrages,  the  violation  of  women,  the  killing  of 
children,  wanton  destruction,  burning,  looting  and  pillage,  and 
whole  towns  destroyed,  were  acts  for  which  no  possible  military 

88 


THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  BEAST  IN  BELGIUM      91 

necessity  can  be  pleaded.  They  were  wilfully  committed  as  part 
of  a  deliberately  prepared  and  scientifically  organized  policy  of 
terrorism." 

And  now,  having  considered  these  outrages  as  part  of  the  Ger- 
man policy  of  terrorism,  let  us  turn  to  the  facts  presented  by  those 
who  made  investigations  at  first  hand  in  devastated  Belgium  and 
Northern  France. 

Let  us  first  turn  to  the  tragic  story  of  the  destruction  of 
Louvain.  The  first  document  comes  in  the  form  of  a  cable  sent 
from  the  Belgian  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  under  date  of 
Augusts,  1914: 

"  On  Tuesday  evening  a  body  of  German  troops  who  had 
been  driven  back  retired  in  disorder  upon  the  town  of  Louvain. 
Germans  who  were  guarding  the  town  thought  that  the  retiring 
troops  were  Belgians  and  fired  upon  them.  In  order  to  excuse 
this  mistake  the  Germans,  in  spite  of  the  most  energetic  denials 
on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  pretended  that  Belgians  had  fired  on 
the  Germans,  although  all  the  inhabitants,  including  policemen, 
had  been  disarmed  for  more  than  a  week.  Without  any  examina- 
tion and  without  listening  to  any  protest  the  commanding  officer 
announced  that  the  town  would  be  immediately  destroyed.  All 
inhabitants  had  to  leave  their  homes  at  once;  some  were  made 
prisoners;  women  and  children  were  put  into  a  train  of  which  the 
destination  was  unknown;  soldiers  with  fire  bombs  set  fire  to  the 
different  quarters  of  the  town;  the  splendid  Church  of  St.  Pierre, 
the  markets,  the  university  and  its  scientific  establishments,  were 
given  to  the  flames,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
this  celebrated  jewel  of  Gothic  art,  will  also  have  disappeared  in 
the  disaster.  Several  notabilities  were  shot  at  sight.  Thus  a 
town  of  40,000  inhabitants,  which,  since  the  fifteenth  century,  has 
been  the  intellectual  and  scientific  capital  of  the  Low  Countries 
is  a  heap  of  ashes.  Americans,  many  of  whom  have  followed  the 
course  at  this  illustrious  alma  mater  and  have  there  received  such 
cordial  hospitality,  cannot  remain  insensible  to  this  outrage  on 
the  rights  of  humanity  and  civilization  which  is  unprecedented 
in  history." 

Minister  Whitlock  made  the  following  report  on  the  same 
outrage : 

"A   violent   fusillade   broke   out   simultaneously   at   various 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

points  in  the  city  (Louvain),  notably  at  the  Porte  de  Bruxelles, 
Porte  de  Tirlemont,  Rue  Leopold,  Rue  Marie-Therese,  Rue  des 
Joyeuses  Entrees.  German  soldiers  were  firing  at  random  in 
every  street  and  in  every  direction.  Later  fires  broke  out  every- 
where, notably  in  the  University  building,  the  Library,  in  the  old 
Church  of  St.  Peter,  in  the  Place  du  Peuple,  in  the  Rue  de  la  Station, 
hi  the  Boulevard  de  Thiemont,  and  in  the  Chaussee  de  Tirlemont. 
On  the  orders  of  their  chiefs,  the  German  soldiers  would  break 
open  the  houses  and  set  fire  to  them,  shooting  on  the  inhabitants 
who  tried  to  leave  their  dwellings.  Many  persons  who  took  refuge 
in  their  cellars  were  burned  to  death.  The  German  soldiers  were 
equipped  with  apparatus  for  the  purpose  of  firing  dwellings,  incen- 
diary pastils,  machines  for  spraying  petroleum,  etc.  .  .  . 

"Major  von  Manteuffel  (of  the  German  forces)  sent  for 
Alderman  Schmidt.  Upon  the  latter's  arrival,  the  major  declared 
that  hostages  were  to  be  held,  as  sedition  had  just  broken  out. 
He  asked  Father  Parijs,  Mr.  Schmidt,  and  Mgr.  Coenraedts, 
First  Vice-Rector  of  the  University,  who  was  being  held  as  a 
hostage,  to  make  proclamations  to  the  inhabitants  exhorting  them 
to  be  calm  and  menacing  them  with  a  fine  of  twenty  million  francs, 
the  destruction  of  the  city  and  the  hanging  of  the  hostages,  if 
they  created  disturbance.  Surrounded  by  about  thirty  soldiers 
and  a  few  officers,  Major  Manteuffel,  Father  Parijs,  Mr.  Schmidt 
and  Mgr.  Coenraedts  left  in  the  direction  of  the  station,  and  the 
alderman,  hi  French,  and  the  priest,  in  Flemish,  made  proclama- 
tions at  the  street  corners.  .  .  . 

"Near  the  statue  of  Juste-Lipse,  a  Dr.  Berghausen,  a  German 
surgeon,  in  a  highly  excited  condition,  ran  to  meet  the  delegation. 
He  shouted  that  a  German  soldier  had  just  been  killed  by  a  shot 
fired  from  the  house  of  Mr.  David  Fishbach.  Addressing  the 
soldiers,  Dr.  Berghausen  said:  'The  blood  of  the  entire  population 
of  Louvain  is  not  worth  a  drop  of  the  blood  of  a  German  soldier!' 
Then  one  of  the  soldiers  threw  into  the  interior  of  the  house  of 
Mr.  Fishbach  one  of  the  pastils  which  the  German  soldiers  car- 
ried and  immediately  the  house  flared  up.  It  contained  paintings 
of  a  high  value.  The  old  coachman,  Joseph  Vandermosten,  who 
had  re-entered  the  house  to  try  to  save  the  life  of  his  master, 
did  not  return.  His  body  was  found  the  next  day  amidst  the 
ruins. 


THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  BEAST  IN  BELGIUM    93 

"The  Germans  made  the  usual  claim  that  the  civil  popula- 
tion had  fired  upon  them  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  take  these 
measures,  i.  e.,  burn  the  churches,  the  library  and  other  public 
monuments,  burn  and  pillage  houses,  driving  out  and  murdering 
the  inhabitants,  sacking  the  city  in  order  to  punish  and  to  spread 
terror  among  the  people,  and  General  von  Luttwitz  had  told  me 
that  it  was  reported  that  the  son  of  the  burgomaster  had  shot 
one  of  their  generals.  But  the  burgomaster  of  Lou  vain  had  no 
son,  and  no  officer  was  shot  at  Lou  vain.  The  story  of  a  general 
shot  by  the  son  of  a  burgomaster  was  a  repetition  of  a  tragedy  that 
had  occurred  at  Aerschot,  on  the  19th,  where  the  fifteen-year-old 
son  of  the  burgomaster  had  been  killed  by  a  firing  squad,  not 
because  he  had  shot  a  general,  but  because  an  officer  had  been 
shot,  probably  by  Belgian  soldiers  retreating  through  the  town. 
The  story  of  this  tragedy  is  told  by  the  boy's  mother,  under  oath, 
before  the  Belgian  Commission,  and  is  so  simple,  so  touching,  so 
convincing  in  its  verisimilitude,  that  I  attach  a  copy  of  it  in 
extenso  to  this  report.  It  seems  to  afford  an  altogether  typical 
example  of  what  went  on  all  over  the  stricken  land  during  those 
days  of  terror.  (In  other  places  it  was  the  daughter  of  the  burgo- 
master who  was  said  to  have  shot  a  general.) 

"The  following  facts  may  be  noted:  From  the  avowal  of 
Prussian  officers  themselves,  there  was  not  one  single  victim, 
among  their  men  at  the  barracks  of  St.  Martin,  Lou  vain,  where 
it  was  claimed  that  the  first  shot  had  been  fired  from  a  house 
situated  in  front  of  the  Caserne.  This  would  appear  to  be  impossi- 
ble had  the  civilians  fired  upon  them  point  blank  from  across  the 
street.  It  was  said  that  when  certain  houses  near  the  barracks 
were  burning,  numerous  explosions  occurred,  revealing  the  presence 
of  cartridges;  but  these  houses  were  drinking  houses  much  fre- 
quented by  German  soldiers.  It  was  said  that  Spanish  students 
shot  from  the  schools  in  the  Rue  de  la  Station,  but  Father  Catala, 
rector  of  the  school,  affirms  that  the  schools  were  empty.  .  .  . 

"If  it  was  necessary,  for  whatever  reason,  to  do  what  was 
done  at  Vise,  at  Dinant,  at  Aerschot,  at  Louvain,  and  in  a  hundred 
other  towns  that  were  sacked,  pillaged  and  burned,  where  masses 
were  shot  down  because  civilians  had  fired  on  German  troops, 
and  if  it  was  necessary  to  do  this  on  a  scale  never  before  witnessed 
in  history,  one  might  not  unreasonably  assume  that  the  alleged 


94  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

firing  by  civilians  was  done  on  a  scale,  if  not  so  thoroughly  organized, 
at  least  somewhat  in  proportion  to  the  rage  of  destruction  that 
punished  it.  And  hence  it  would  seem  to  be  a  simple  matter  to 
produce  at  least  convincing  evidence  that  civilians  had  fired  on 
the  soldiers;  but  there  is  no  testimony  to  that  effect  beyond  that 
of  the  soldiers  who  merely  assert  it:  Man  hat  geschossen.  If 
there  were  no  more  firing  on  soldiers  by  civilians  in  Belgium  than 
is  proved  by  the  German  testimony,  it  was  not  enough  to  justify 
the  burning  of  the  smallest  of  the  towns  that  was  overtaken  by 
that  fate.  And  there  is  not  a  scintilla  of  evidence  of  organized 
bands  of  francs-tireurs,  such  as  were  found  in  the  war  of  1870." 

Under  date  of  September  12,  1917,  Minister  Whitlock,  in  a 
report  to  the  State  Department  of  the  United  States,  made  the 
following  summary:  "As  one  studies  the  evidence  at  hand,  one  is 
struck  at  the  outset  by  the  fact  so  general  that  it  must  exclude  the 
hypothesis  of  coincidence,  and  that  is  that  these  wholesale  massacres 
followed  immediately  upon  some  check,  some  reverse,  that  the 
German  army  had  sustained.  The  German  army  was  checked 
by  the  guns  of  the  forts  to  the  east  of  Liege,  and  the  horrors  of 
Vise,  Venders,  Bligny,  Battice,  Hervy  and  twenty  villages  follow. 
When  they  entered  Liege,  they  burned  the  houses  along  two  streets 
and  killed  many  persons,  five  or  six  Spaniards  among  them. 
Checked  before  Namur  they  sacked  Andenne,  Bouvignies,  and 
Champignon,  and  when  they  took  Namur  they  burned  one  hundred 
and  fifty  houses.  Compelled  to  give  battle  to  the  French  army 
in  the  Belgian  Ardennes  they  ravaged  the  beautiful  valley  of  the 
Semois;  the  complete  destruction  of  the  village  of  Rossignlo  and 
the  extermination  of  its  entire  male  population  took  place  there. 
Checked  again  by  the  French  on  the  Meuse,  the  awful  carnage  of 
Dinant  results.  Held  on  the  Sambre  by  the  French,  they  burn 
one  hundred  houses  at  Charleroi  and  enact  the  appalling  tragedy 
of  Tamines.  .  At  Mons,  the  English  hold  them,  and  after  that  all 
over  the  Borinage  there  is  a  systematic  destruction,  pillage  and 
murder.  The  Belgian  army  drive  them  back  from  Malines  and 
Louvain  is  doomed.  The  Belgian  army  falling  back  and  fighting 
in  retreat  took  refuge  hi  the  forts  of  Antwerp,  and  the  burning 
and  sack  of  Hougaerde,  Wavre,  Ottignies,  Grimde,  Neerlinter, 
Weert,  St.  George,  Shaffen.and  Aerschot  follow. 

"The  Belgian  troops  inflicted  serious  losses  on  the  Germans 


AN  OBSERVATION  POST 
Watching  the  effect  of  gun  fire  from  a  sand-bagged  ruin  near  the  German  lines. 


I'hoto  liy  Tians-Atlanl-i:  News  .Se/Ttce  Co. 

KING  ALBERT  AT  THE  HEAD  OF  THE  HEROIC  SOLDIERS 
OP  BELGIUM 

It  is  universally  agreed  that  the  Belgian  monarch  was  no  figurehead  general 

but  a  real  leader  of  his  troops.      It  was  these  men,   facing  annihilation,  who 

tomsned  the  world  by  opposing  the  German  military  machine   successfully 

enough  to  allow  France  to  get  her  armies  into  shape  and  prevent  the  immediate 

taking  of  Pans  that  was  planned  by  Germany. 


THE  TRAIL  OF  THE   BEAST  IN  BELGIUM     97 

in  the  South  of  the  Province  of  Limbourg,  and  the  towns  of  Lummen, 
Bilsen,  and  Lanaeken  are  partially  destroyed.  Antwerp  held  out 
for  two  months,  and  all  about  its  outer  line  of  fortifications  there 
was  blood  and  fire,  numerous  villages  were  sacked  and  burned  and 
the  whole  town  of  Termonde  was  destroyed.  During  the  battles 
of  September  the  village  of  Boortmeerbeek  near  Malines,  occupied 
by  the  Germans,  was  retaken  by  the  Belgians,  and  when  the  Ger- 
mans entered  it  again  they  burned  forty  houses.  Three  times 
occupied  by  the  Belgians  and  retaken  by  the  Germans  Boortmeer- 
beek was  three  times  punished  in  the  same  way.  That  is  to  say, 
everywhere  the  German  army  met  with  a  defeat  it  took  it  out, 
as  we  say  in  America,  on  the  civil  population.  And  that  is  the 
explanation  of  the  German  atrocities  in  Belgium." 

A  committee  of  the  highest  honor  and  responsibility  was 
appointed  by  the  British  Government  to  investigate  the  whole 
subject  of  atrocities  in  Belgium  and  Northern  France.  Its  chair- 
man was  the  Rt.  Hon.  Viscount  James  Bryce,  formerly  British 
Ambassador  to  the  United  States.  Its  other  members  were  the 
Rt.  Hon.  Sir  Frederick  Pollock,  the  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Clark, 
Sir  Alfred  Hopkinson,  Mr.  H.  A.  L.  Fisher,  Vice-Chancellor  of  the 
University  of  Sheffield,  Mr.  Harold  Cox  and  Sir  Kenelm  E.  Digby. 

The  report  of  the  commission  bears  upon  its  face  the  stamp 
of  painstaking  search  for  truth,  substantiates  every  statement 
made  by  Minister  Whitlock  and  makes  known  many  horrible 
instances  of  cruelty  and  barbarity.  It  makes  the  following  deduc- 
tions as  having  been  proved  beyond  question: 

1.  That  there  were  in  many  parts  of  Belgium  deliberate  and 
systematically  organized  massacres  of  the  civil  population,  accom- 
panied by  many  isolated  murders  and  other  outrages. 

2.  That  in  the  conduct  of  the  war  generally  innocent  civilians, 
both  men  and  women,  were  murdered  in  large  numbers,  women 
violated,  and  children  murdered. 

3.  That  looting,  house  burning,  and  the  wanton  destruction 
of  property  were  ordered  and  countenanced  by  the  officers  of  the 
German  army,  that  elaborate  provision  had  been  made  for  system- 
atic incendiarism  at  the  very  outbreak  of  the  war,  and  that  the 
burnings  and  destruction  were  frequent  where  no  military  necessity 
could  be  alleged,  being,  indeed,  part  of  a  system  of  general  terrori- 
Bfttion. 


98  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

4.  That  the  rules  and  usages  of  war  were  frequently  broken, 
particularly  by  the  using  of  civilians,  including  women  and  children, 
as  a  shield  for  advancing  forces  exposed  to  fire,  to  a  less  degree  by 
killing  the  wounded  and  prisoners  and  in  the  frequent  abuse  of  the 
Red  Cross  and  the  white  flag. 

The  Bryce  Commission's  report  on  the  destruction  of  Dinant 
is  an  example  of  testimony  laid  before  them.  It  follows : 

"A  clear  statement  of  the  outrages  at  Dinant,  which  many 
travelers  will  recall  as  a  singularly  picturesque  town  on  the  Meuse, 
is  given  by  one  witness,  who  says  that  the  Germans  began  burning 
houses  in  the  Rue  St.  Jacques  on  the  21st  of  August,  and  that 
every  house  in  the  street  was  burned.  On  the  following  day  an 
engagement  took  place  between  the  French  and  the  Germans, 
and  the  witness  spent  the  whole  day  hi  the  cellar  of  a  bank  with 
his  wife  and  children.  On  the  morning  of  the  23d,  about  5  o'clock, 
firing  ceased,  and  almost  immediately  afterward  a  party  of  Germans 
came  to  the  house.  They  rang  the  bell  and  began  to  batter  at 
the  door  and  windows.  The  witness'  wife  went  to  the  door  and 
two  or  three  Germans  came  in.  The  family  were  ordered  out  into 
the  street.  There  they  found  another  family,  and  the  two  families 
were  driven  with  their  hands  above  their  heads  along  the  Rue 
Grande.  All  the  houses  hi  the  street  were  burning. 

"The  party  was  eventually  put  into  a  forge  where  there  were 
a  number  of  other  prisoners,  about  a  hundred  in  all,  and  were 
kept  there  from  11  A.  M.  till  2  p.  M.  They  were  then  taken  to  the 
prison.  There  they  were  assembled  in  a  courtyard  and  searched. 
No  arms  were  found.  They  were  then  passed  through  into  the 
prison  itself  and  put  into  cells.  The  witness  and  his  wife  were 
separated  from  each  other.  During  the  next  hour  the  witness 
heard  rifle  shots  continually  and  noticed  in  the  corner  of  a  court- 
yard leading  off  the  row  of  cells  the  body  of  a  young  man  with  a 
mantle  thrown  over  it.  He  recognized  the  mantle  as  having 
belonged  to  his  wife.  The  witness'  daughter  was  allowed  to  go 
out  to  see  what  had  happened  to  her  mother,  and  the  witness  him- 
self was  allowed  to  go  across  the  courtyard  half  an  hour  afterward 
for  the  same  purpose.  He  found  his  wife  lying  on  the  floor  in  a 
room.  She  had  bullet  wounds  in  four  places  but  was  alive  and 
told  her  husband  to  return  to  the  children  and  he  did  so. 

"About  5  o'clock  in  the  evening,  he  saw  the  Germans  bringing 


THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  BEAST  IN  BELGIUM    99 

out  all  the  young  and  middle-aged  men  from  the  cells,  and  ranging 
their  prisoners,  to  the  number  of  forty,  in  three  rows  in  the  middle 
of  the  courtyard.  About  twenty  Germans  were  drawn  up  opposite, 
but  before  anything  was  done  there  was  a  tremendous  fusillade 
from  some  point  near  the  prison  and  the  civilians  were  hurried 
back  to  then*  cells.  Half  an  hour  later  the  same  forty  men  were 
brought  back  into  the  courtyard.  Almost  immediately  there  was 
a  second  fusillade  and  they  were  driven  back  to  the  cells  again. 

"About  7  o'clock  the  witness  and  other  prisoners  were  brought 
out  of  then-  cells  and  marched  out  of  the  prison.  They  went  between 
two  lines  of  troops  to  Roche  Bayard,  about  a  kilometer  away. 
An  hour  later  the  women  and  children  were  separated  and  the 
prisoners  were  brought  back  to  Dinant  passing  the  prison  on  their 
way.  Just  outside  the  prison,  the  witness  saw  three  lines  of  bodies 
which  he  recognized  as  being  those  of  his  neighbors.  They  were 
nearly  all  dead,  but  he  noticed  movement  in  some  of  tnem.  There 
were  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  bodies.  The  prisoners  were 
then  taken  up  to  the  top  of  a  hill  outside  Dinant  and  compelled  to 
stay  there  till  8  o'clock  in  the  morning.  On  the  following  day  they 
were  put  into  cattle  trucks  and  taken  thence  to  Coblenz.  For 
three  months  they  remained  prisoners  in  Germany. 

"  Unarmed  civilians  were  killed  in  masses  at  other  places  near 
the  prison.  About  ninety  bodies  were  seen  lying  on  the  top  of  one 
another  hi  a  grass  square  opposite  the  convent.  A  witness  asked 
a  German  officer  why  her  husband  had  been  shot,  and  he  told  her 
that  it  was  because  two  of  her  sons  had  been  in  the  civil  guard  and 
had  shot  at  the  Germans.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  one  of  her  sons 
was  at  that  time  in  Lie"ge  and  the  other  in  Brussels.  It  is  stated 
that  besides  the  ninety  corpses  referred  to  above,  sixty  corpses  of 
civilians  were  recovered  from  a  hole  in  the  brewery  yard  and  that 
forty-eight  bodies  of  women  and  children  were  found  in  a  garden. 
The  town  was  systematically  set  on  fire  by  hand  grenades.  Another 
witness  saw  a  little  girl  of  seven,  one  of  whose  legs  was  broken 
and  the  other  injured  by  a  bayonet.  We  have  no  reason  to  believe 
that  the  civilian  population  of  Dinant  gave  any  provocation,  or 
that  any  other  defense  can  be  put  forward  to  justify  the  treatment 
inflicted  upon  its  citizens." 

The  Bryce  Commission  reports  the  outrages  in  a  number  of 
Belgian  villages  in  this  terse  fashion: 


100  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

"In  Hofstade  a  number  of  houses  had  been  set  on  fire  and 
many  corpses  were  seen,  some  in  houses,  some  in  back  yards,  and 
some  in  the  streets.  Two  witnesses  speak  of  having  seen  the  body 
of  a  young  man  pierced  by  bayonet  thrusts  with  the  wrists  cut 
also.  On  a  side  road  the  corpse  of  a  civilian  was  seen  on  his  door- 
step with  a  "bayonet  wound  in  his  stomach  and  by  his  side  the 
dead  body  of  a  boy  of  five  or  six  with  his  hands  nearly  severed. 
The  corpses  of  a  woman  and  boy  were  seen  at  the  blacksmith's. 
They  had  been  killed  with  the  bayonet.  In  a  cafe,  a  young  man, 
also  killed  with  the  bayonet,  was  holding  his  hands  together  as  if 
hi  the  attitude  of  supplication. 

"In  the  garden  of  a  house  hi  the  main  street,  bodies  of  two 
women  were  observed,  and  in  another  house,  the  body  of  a  boy 
of  sixteen  with  two  bayonet  wounds  in  the  chest.  In  Sempst  a 
similar  condition  of  affairs  existed.  Houses  were  burning  and  in 
some  of  them  were  the  charred  remains  of  civilians.  In  a  bicycle 
shop  a  witness  saw  the  burned  corpse  of  a  man.  Other  witnesses 
speak  of  this  incident.  Another  civilian,  unarmed,  was  shot  as 
he  was  running  away.  As  will  be  remembered,  all  the  arms  had 
been  given  up  some  tune  before  by  the  order  of  the  burgomaster. 

"At  Weerde  four  corpses  of  civilians  were  lying  in  the  road. 
It  was  said  that  these  men  had  fired  upon  the  German  soldiers; 
but  this  is  denied.  The  arms  had  been  given  up  long  before. 
Two  children  were  killed  in  the  village  of  Weerde,  quite  wantonly 
as  they  were  standing  in  the  road  with  their  mother.  They  were 
three  or  four  years  old  and  were  killed  with  the  bayonet.  A  small 
barn  burning  close  by  formed  a  convenient  means  of  getting  rid 
of  bodies.  They  were  thrown  into  the  flames  from  the  bayonets. 
It  is  right  to  add  that  no  commissioned  officer  was  present  at  the 
time.  At  Eppeghem,  on  August  25th,  a  pregnant  woman  who  had 
been  wounded  with  a  bayonet  was  discovered  in  the  convent. 
She  was  dying.  On  the  road  six  dead  bodies  of  laborers  were  seen. 

"At  Boortmeerbeek  a  German  soldier  was  seen  to  fire  three 
tunes  at  a  little  girl  five  years  old.  Having  failed  to  hit  her,  he 
subsequently  bayoneted  her.  He  was  killed  with  the  butt  end 
of  a  rifle  by  a  Belgian  soldier  who  had  seen  him  commit  this  murder 
from  a  distance.  At  Herent  the  charred  body  of  a  civilian  was 
found  hi  a  butcher's  shop,  and  hi  a  handcart  twenty  yards  away 
was  the  dead  body  of  a  laborer.  Two  eye  witnesses  relate  that  a 


THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  BEAST  IN  BELGIUM  101 

German  soldier  shot  a  civilian  and  stabbed  him  with  a  bayonet 
as  he  lay.  He  then  made  one  of  these  witnesses,  a  civilian  prisoner, 
smell  the  blood  on  the  bayonet.  At  Haecht  the  bodies  of  ten 
civilians  were  seen  lying  in  a  row  by  a  brewery  wall.  In  a  laborer's 
house,  which  had  been  broken  up,  the  mutilated  corpse  of  a  woman 
of  thirty  to  thirty-five  was  discovered." 

Concerning  the  treatment  of  women  and  children  in  general, 
the  report  continues:  "The  evidence  shows  that  the  German 
authorities,  when  carrying  out  a  policy  of  systematic  arson  and 
plunder  in  selected  districts,  usually  drew  some  distinction  between 
the  adult  male  population  on  the  one  hand  and  the  women  and 
children  on  the  other.  It  was  a  frequent  practice  to  set  apart  the 
adult  males  of  the  condemned  district  with  a  view  to  the  execution 
of  a  suitable  number — preferably  of  the  younger  and  more  vigorous 
— and  to  reserve  the  women  and  children  for  milder  treatment. 
The  depositions,  however,  present  many  instances  of  calculated 
cruelty,  often  going  the  length  of  murder,  toward  the  women  and 
children  of  the  condemned  area. 

"At  Dinant  sixty  women  and  children  were  confined  in  the 
cellar  of  a  convent  from  Sunday  morning  till  the  following  Friday, 
August  28th,  sleeping  on  the  ground,  for  there  were  no  beds,  with 
nothing  to  drink  during  the  whole  period,  and  given  no  food  until 
Wednesday,  when  somebody  threw  into  the  cellar  two  sticks  of 
macaroni  and  a  carrot  for  each  prisoner.  In  other  cases  the  women 
and  children  were  marched  for  long  distances  along  roads,  as,  for 
instance,  the  march  of  the  women  from  Louvain  to  Tirlemont, 
August  28th,  the  laggards  pricked  on  by  the  attendant  Uhlans. 
A  lady  complains  of  having  been  brutally  kicked  by  privates. 
Others  were  struck  at  with  the  butt  end  of  rifles.  At  Louvain, 
at  Liege,  at  Aerschot,  at  Malines,  at  Montigny,  at  Andenne,  and 
elsewhere,  there  is  evidence  that  the  troops  were  not  restrained 
from  drunkenness,  and  drunken  soldiers  cannot  be  trusted  to 
observe  the  rules  or  decencies  of  war,  least  of  all  when  they  are 
called  upon  to  execute  a  preordained  plan  of  arson  and  pillage. 
From  the  very  first  women  were  not  safe.  At  Liege  women  and 
children  w^ere  chased  about  the  streets  by  soldiers. 

"Witnesses  recount  how  a  great  crowd  of  men,  women  and 
children  from  Aerschot  were  marched  to  Louvain,  and  then  sud- 
denly exposed  to  a  fire  from  a  mitrailleuse  and  rifles.  'We  were 


102  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

all  placed/  recounts  a  sufferer,  'in  Station  Street,  Louvain,  and 
the  German  soldiers  fired  on  us.  I  saw  the  corpses  of  some  women 
in  the  street.  I  fell  down,  and  a  woman  who  had  been  shot  fell 
on  top  of  me/  Women  and  children  suddenly  turned  out  into 
the  streets,  and,  compelled  to  witness  the  destruction  of  their 
homes  by  fire,  provided  a  sad  spectacle  to  such  as  were  sober  enough 
to  see. 

"A  humane  German  officer,  witnessing  the  ruin  of  Aerschot, 
exclaimed  hi  disgust:  'I  am  a  father  myself,  and  I  cannot  bear  this. 
It  is  not  war  but  butchery.'  Officers  as  well  as  men  succumbed 
to  the  temptation  of  drink,  with  results  which  may  be  illustrated 
by  an  incident  which  occurred  at  Campenhout.  In  this  village 
there  was  a  certain  well-to-do  merchant  (name  given)  who  had  a 
cellar  of  good  champagne.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  14th  or  15th 
of  August  three  German  cavalry  officers  entered  the  house  and 
demanded  champagne.  Having  drunk  ten  bottles  and  invited 
five  or  six  officers  and  three  or  four  private  soldiers  to  join  them, 
they  continued  their  carouse,  and  then  called  for  the  master  and 
mistress  of  the  house. 

'  'Immediately  my  mistress  came  in/  says  the  valet  de  cham- 
bre,  'one  of  the  officers  who  was  sitting  on  the  floor  got  up,  and,  put- 
ting a  revolver  to  my  mistress'  temple,  shot  her  dead.  The  officer 
was  obviously  drunk.  The  other  officers  continued  to  drink  and 
sing,  and  they  did  not  pay  any  great  attention  to  the  killing  of  my 
mistress.  The  officer  who  shot  my  mistress  then  told  my  master 
to  dig  a  grave  and  bury  my  mistress.  My  master  and  the  officer 
went  into  the  garden,  the  officer  threatening  my  master  with  a 
pistol.  My  master  was  then  forced  to  dig  the  grave  and  to  bury 
my  mistress  hi  it.  I  cannot  say  for  what  reason  they  killed  my 
mistress.  The  officer  who  did  it  was  singing  all  the  tune.' 

"In  the  evidence  before  us  there  are  cases  tending  to  show 
that  aggravated  crimes  against  women  were  sometimes  severely 
punished.  One  witness  reports  that  a  young  girl  who  was  being 
pursued  by  a  drunken  soldier  at  Louvain  appealed  to  a  German 
officer,  and  that  the  offender  was  then  and  there  shot.  Another 
describes  how  an  officer  of  the  Thirty-second  Regiment  of  the  Line 
was  led  out  to  execution  for  the  violation  of  two  young  girls,  but 
reprieved  at  the  request  or  with  the  consent  of  the  girls'  mother. 
These  instances  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  maltreatment  of 


THE  TRAIL  OF  THE   BEAST  IN   BELGIUM    103 

women  was  no  part  of  the  military  scheme  of  the  invaders,  however 
much  it  may  appear  to  have  been  the  inevitable  result  of  the 
system  of  terror  deliberately  adopted  in  certain  regions.  Indeed, 
so  much  is  avowed.  'I  asked  the  commander  why  we  had  been 
spared,'  says  a  lady  in  Louvain,  who  deposes  to  having  suffered 
much  brutal  treatment  during  the  sack.  He  said:  'We  will  not 
hurt  you  any  more.  Stay  in  Louvain.  All  is  finished.'  It  was 
Saturday,  August  29th,  and  the  reign  of  terror  was  over. 

"The  Germans  used  men,  women  and  children  of  Belgium  as 
screens  for  advancing  infantry,  as  is  shown  in  the  following:  Out- 
side Fort  Fleron,  near  Liege,  men  and  children  were  marched  in 
front  of  the  Germans  to  prevent  the  Belgian  soldiers  from  firing. 
The  progress  of  the  Germans  through  Mons  was  marked  by  many 
incidents  of  this  character.  Thus,  on  August  22d,  half  a  dozen 
Belgian  colliers  returning  from  work  were  marching  in  front  of 
some  German  troops  who  were  pursuing  the  English,  and  hi  the 
opinion  of  the  witnesses,  they  must  have  been  placed  there  inten- 
tionally. An  English  officer  describes  how  he  caused  a  barricade 
to  be  erected  in  a  main  thoroughfare  leading  out  of  Mons,  when 
the  Germans,  in  order  to  reach  a  crossroad  in  the  rear,  fetched 
civilians  out  of  the  houses  on  each  side  of  the  main  road  and  com- 
pelled them  to  hold  up  white  flags  and  act  as  cover. 

"  Another  British  officer  who  saw  this  incident  is  convinced 
that  the  Germans  were  acting  deliberately  for  the  purpose  of 
protecting  themselves  from  the  fire  of  the  British  troops.  Apart 
from  this  protection,  the  Germans  could  not  have  advanced,  as 
the  street  was  straight  and  commanded  by  the  British  rifle  fire 
at  a  range  of  700  or  800  yards.  Several  British  soldiers  also  speak 
of  this  incident,  and  their  story  is  confirmed  by  a  Flemish  witness 
in  a  side  street." 

The  French  Government  also  appointed  a  commission,  headed 
by  M.  Georges  Payelle.  This  body  made  an  investigation  of 
outrages  committed  by  German  officers  and  soldiers  in  Northern 
France.  Its  report  showed  conditions  that  outstripped  in  horror 
the  war  tactics  of  savages.  It  makes  the  following  accusations: 

"In  Rebais,  two  English  cavalrymen  who  were  surprised  and 
wounded  in  this  commune  were  finished  off  with  gunshots  by  the 
Germans  when  they  were  dismounted  and  when  one  of  them  had 
thrown  up  his  hands,  showing  thus  that  he  was  unarmed. 


104  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

"In  the  department  of  the  Marne,  as  everywhere  else,  the 
German  troops  gave  themselves  up  to  general  pillage,  which  was 
carried  out  always  under  similar  conditions  and  with  the  complicity 
of  then-  leaders.  The  Communes  of  Heiltz-le-Maurupt,  Suippes, 
Marfaux,  Fromentieres  and  Esternay  suffered  especially  in  this 
way.  Everything  which  the  invader  could  carry  off  from  the 
houses  was  placed  on  motor  lorries  and  vehicles.  At  Suippes,  in 
particular,  they  carried  off  in  this  way  a  quantity  of  different 
objects,  among  these  sewing  machines  and  toys.  A  great  many 
villages,  as  well  as  important  country  towns,  were  burned  without 
any  reason  whatever.  Without  doubt,  these  crimes  were  com- 
mitted by  order,  as  German  detachments  arrived  in  the  neighborhood 
with  then*  torches,  then*  grenades,  and  their  usual  outfit  for  arson. 

"At  Marfaux  nineteen  private  houses  were  burned.  Of  the 
Commune  of  Glannes  practically  nothing  remains.  At  Somme- 
Tourbe  the  entire  village  has  been  destroyed,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Maine,  the  church  and  two  private  buildings.  At  Auve 
nearly  the  whole  town  has  been  destroyed.  At  Etrepy  sixty- 
three  families  out  of  seventy  are  homeless.  At  Huiron  all  of  the 
houses,  with  the  exception  of  five  have  been  burned.  At  Sermaize- 
les-Bains  only  about  forty  houses  out  of  900  remain.  At  Bignicourt- 
sur-Saultz  thirty  houses  out  of  thirty-three  are  hi  rums. 

"At  Suippes,  the  big  market  town  which  has  been  practically 
burned  out,  German  soldiers  carrying  straw  and  cans  of  petrol 
have  been  seen  in  the  streets.  While  the  mayor's  house  was  burn- 
ing, six  sentinels  with  fixed  bayonets  were  under  orders  to  forbid 
anyone  to  approach  and  to  prevent  any  help  being  given. 

"All  this  destruction  by  arson,  which  only  represents  a  small 
proportion  of  the  acts  of  the  same  kind  in  the  Department  of 
Seine-et-Marne,  was  accomplished  without  the  least  tendency  to 
rebellion  or  the  smallest  act  of  resistance  being  recorded  against 
the  inhabitants  of  the  localities  which  are  today  more  or  less  com- 
pletely destroyed.  In  some  villages  the  Germans,  before  setting 
fire  to  them  made  one  of  then-  soldiers  fire  a  shot  from  his  rifle  so 
as  to  be  able  to  pretend  afterward  that  the  civilian  population  had 
attacked  them,  an  allegation  which  is  all  the  more  absurd  since 
at  the  tune  when  the  enemy  arrived,  the  only  inhabitants  left 
were  old  men,  sick  persons,  or  people  absolutely  without  any  means 
of  aggression, 


THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  BEAST  IN  BELGIUM    107 

"Numerous  crimes  against  the  person  have  also  been  com- 
mitted. In  the  majority  of  the  communes  hostages  have  been 
taken  away;  many  of  them  have  not  returned.  At  Sermaize- 
les-Bains,  the  Germans  carried  off  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
people,  some  of  whom  were  decked  out  with  helmets  and  coats  and 
compelled,  thus  equipped,  to  mount  guard  over  the  bridges. 

"At  Bignicourt-sur-Saultz  thirty  men  and  forty-five  women 
and  children  were  obliged  to  leave  with  a  detachment.  One  of 
the  men — a  certain  Emile  Pierre — has  not  returned  nor  sent  any 
news  of  himself.  At  Corfelix,  M.  Jacqet,  who  was  carried  off  on 
the  7th  of  September  with  eleven  of  his  fellow-citizens,  was  found 
five  hundred  meters  from  the  village  with  a  bullet  in  his  head. 

"At  Champuis,  the  cure,  his  maid-servant,  and  four  other 
inhabitants  who  were  taken  away  on  the  same  day  as  the  hostages 
of  Corfelix  had  not  returned  at  the  time  of  our  visit  to  the  place. 

"At  the  same  place  an  old  man  of  seventy,  named  Jacquemin, 
was  tied  down  in  his  bed  by  an  officer  and  left  in  this  state  without 
food  for  three  days.  He  died  a  little  time  after.  At  Vert-la- 
Gravelle  a  farm  hand  was  killed.  He  was  struck  on  the  head  with 
a  bottle  and  his  chest  was  run  through  with  a  lance.  The  garde 
champetre  Brulefer  of  le  Gault-la-Foret  was  murdered  at  Maclau- 
nay,  where  he  had  been  taken  by  the  Germans.  His  body  was 
found  with  his  head  shattered  and  a  wound  on  his  chest. 

"At  Champguyon,  a  commune  which  has  been  fired,  a  certain 
Verdier  was  killed  in  his  father-in-law's  house.  The  latter  was 
not  present  at  the  execution,  but  he  heard  a  shot  and  next  day 
an  officer  said  to  him,  'Son  shot.  He  is  under  the  ruins.'  In 
spite  of  the  search  made  the  body  has  not  been  found  among  them. 
It  must  have  been  consumed  in  the  fire. 

"At  Sermaize,  the  roadmaker,  Brocard,  was  placed  among  a 
number  of  hostages.  Just  at  the  moment  when  he  was  being 
arrested  with  his  son,  his  wife  and  his  daughter-in-law  in  a  state 
of  panic  rushed  to  throw  themselves  into  the  Saulx.  The  old  man 
was  able  to  free  himself  for  a  moment  and  ran  in  all  haste  after 
them  and  made  several  attempts  to  save  them,  but  the  Germans 
dragged  him  away  pitilessly,  leaving  the  two  wretched  women 
struggling  in  the  river.  When  Brocard  and  his  son  were  restored  to 
liberty,  four  days  afterward,  and  found  the  bodies,  they  discovered 
that  their  wives  had  both  received  bullet  wounds  in  the  head. 


108  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

"At  Triaucourt  the  Germans  gave  themselves  up  to  the  worst 
excesses.  Angered  doubtless  by  the  remark  which  an  officer  had 
addressed  to  a  soldier,  against  whom  a  young  girl  of  nineteen,  Mile. 
Helene  Proces,  had  made  complaint  of  on  account  of  the  indecent 
treatment  to  which  she  had  been  subjected,  they  burned  the  village 
and  made  a  systematic  massacre  of  the  inhabitants.  They  began 
by  setting  fire  to  the  house  of  an  inoffensive  householder,  M. 
Jules  Gand,  and  by  shooting  this  unfortunate  man  as  he  was  leaving 
his  house  to  escape  the  flames.  Then  they  dispersed  among  the 
houses  hi  the  streets,  firing  off  their  rifles  on  every  side.  A  young 
man,  seventeen  years,  Georges  Lecourtier,  who  tried  to  escape,  was 
shot.  M.  Alfred  Lallemand  suffered  the  same  fate.  He  was  pursued 
into  the  kitchen  of  his  fellow-citizen  Tautelier,  and  murdered 
there,  while  Tautelier  received  three  bullets  in  his  hand. 

"Fearing,  not  without  reason,  for  their  lives,  Mile.  Proces, 
her  mother  and  her  grandmother  of  seventy-one  and  her  old  aunt 
of  eighty-one,  tried  to  cross  the  trellis  which  separates  their  garden 
from  a  neighboring  property  with  the  help  of  a  ladder.  The  young 
girl  alone  was  able  to  reach  the  other  side  and  to  avoid  death  by 
hiding  in  the  cabbages.  As  for  the  other  women,  they  were  struck 
down  by  rifle  shots.  The  village  cure*  collected  the  brains  of  the 
aunt  on  the  ground  on  which  they  were  strewn  and  had  the  bodies 
carried  into  Proces'  house.  During  the  following  night,  the 
Germans  played  the  piano  near  the  bodies. 

"While  the  carnage  raged,  the  fire  rapidly  spread  and  devoured 
thirty-five  houses.  An  old  man  of  seventy  and  a  child  of  two 
months  perished  in  the  flames.  M.  Igier,  who  was  trying  to  save 
his  cattle,  was  pursued  for  300  meters  by  soldiers,  who  fired  at  him 
ceaselessly.  By  a  miracle  this  man  had  the  good  fortune  not  to 
be  wounded,  but  five  bullets  went  through  his  clothing." 

This  summary  merely  hints  at  the  atrocities  that  were  per- 
petrated. And  these  are  the  crimes  that  France  and  Belgium  will 
remember  after  indemnities  have  been  paid,  after  borders  have  been 
re-established  and  after  generations  shall  have  past.  The  horrors 
of  blazing  villages,  of  violated  womanhood,  of  mutilated  childhood, 
of  stark  and  senseless  butcheries,  will  flash  before  the  minds  of 
French  and  Belgian  men  and  women  when  Germany's  name  shall 
be  mentioned  long  after  the  declaration  of  peace. 

Schrecklichkeit  had  its  day.     It  took  its  bloody  toll  of  the 


THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  BEAST  IN  BELGIUM     109 

fairest  and  bravest  of  two  gallant  nations.  It  ravaged  Poland 
as  well  and  wreaked  its  fiendish  will  on  wounded  soldiers  on  the 
battle-fields. 

But  Schrecklichkeit  is  dead.  Belgium  and  France  have 
shown  that  murder  and  rape  and  arson  can  not  destroy  liberty 
nor  check  the  indomitable  ambitions  of  the  free  peoples  of  earth. 

The  lesson  to  Germany  was  taught  at  a  terrible  cost  to 
humanity,  but  it  was  taught  in  a  fashion  that  nations  hereafter 
who  shall  dream  of  emulating  the  Hun  will  know  in  advance  that 
frightfulness  serves  no  end  except  to  feed  the  lust  for  destruction 
that  exists  only  in  the  most  debased  and  brutish  of  men. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  FIRST  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE 

FRANCE  and  civilization  were  saved  by  Joffre  and   Foch 
at  the  first  battle  of  the  Marne,  in  September,  1914. 
Autocracy  was  destroyed  by  Foch  at  the  second  battle 
of  the  Marne,  in  July,  1918. 

This  hi  a  nutshell  embraces  the  dramatic  opening  and  closing 
episodes  of  the  World  War  on  the  soil  of  France.  Bracketed 
between  these  two  glorious  victories  were  the  agonies  of  martyred 
France,  the  deaths  and  life-long  cripplings  of  millions  of  men,  the 
up-rooting  of  arrogant  militarism,  the  liberation  of  captive  nations. 

The  first  battle  of  the  Marne  was  wholly  a  French  operation. 
The  British  were  close  at  hand,  but  had  no  share  in  the  victory. 
Generals  Gallieni  and  Manoury,  acting  under  instructions  from 
Marshal  Joffre,  were  driven  by  automobile  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  British  commander,  Sir  John  French,  in  the  village  of 
Melun.  They  explained  in  detail  General  Joffre's  plan  of  attack 
upon  the  advancing  German  army.  An  urgent  request  was  made 
that  the  British  army  halt  its  retreat,  face  about,  and  attack  the 
two  corps  of  von  Kluck's  army  then  confronting  the  British. 
Simultaneously  with  this  attack  General  Manoury 's  forces  were 
to  fall  upon  the  flank  and  the  rear  guard  of  von  Kluck  along  the 
River  Ourcq.  This  operation  was  planned  for  the  next  day,  Sep- 
tember 5th.  Sir  John  French  replied  that  he  could  not  get  his  tired 
army  in  readiness  for  battle  within  forty-eight  hours.  This  would 
delay  the  British  attack  hi  all  probability  until  September  7th. 

Joffre's  plan  of  battle,  however,  would  admit  of  no  delay. 
The  case  was  urgent;  there  was  grave  danger  of  a  union  between 
the  great  forces  headed  by  the  Crown  Prince  and  those  under 
von  Kluck.  He  resolved  to  go  ahead  without  the  British,  and 
ordered  Manoury  to  strike  as  had  been  planned. 

He  fixed  as  an  extreme  limit  for  the  movement  of  retreat,  which 
was  still  going  on,  the  line  of  Bray-sur-Seine,  Nogent-sur-Seine, 
Arcis-sur-Aube,  Vitry-le-Frangois,  and  the  region  to  the  north  of 

110 


Underwood  &  Underwood,  N.  Y. 

GENERAL  PERSHING  AND  MARSHAL  JOFFRE 

The  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces  chatting  with  the 
veteran  Marshal  of  France,  the  hero  of  the  first  battle  of  the  Marne. 


MARSHAL  FERDINAND  FOCH,  GENERALISSIMO  OF  THE  ALLIED 
ARMIES  IN  THE  WEST 

No  leader  could  command  greater  confidence  than  the  brilliant  strategist  to 
whom  was  mainly  due  the  great  victory  of  the  Marne  in  the  first  autumn  of  the  war. 
He  also  directed  the  French  offensive  on  the  Somme  in  1916  and  in  November,  1917, 
he  was  chosen  as  the  French  representative  and  subsequently  chairman  of  the 
Central  Military  Committee  appointed  to  assist  the  Supreme  Allied  War  Council. 
Marshal  Foch  was  formerly  for  five  years  lecturer  on  strategy  and  tactics  at  the 
Ecole  de  Guerre.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  said  to  the  Allied  armies:  "You  have 
won  the  greatest  battle  in  history  and  saved  the  most  sacred  cause — the  liberty  of 
the  world" 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE       113 

Bar-le-Duc.  This  line  might  be  reached  if  the  troops  were  compelled 
to  go  back  so  far.  They  would  attack  before  reaching  it,  as  soon 
as  there  was  a  possibility  of  bringing  about  an  offensive  disposition, 
permitting  the  co-operation  of  the  whole  of  the  French  forces. 

On  September  5  it  appeared  that  this  desired  situation  existed. 

The  First  German  army,  carrying  audacity  to  temerity,  had 
continued  its  endeavor  to  envelop  the  French  left,  had  crossed  the 


THE  FIKST  GERMAN  DASH  FOR  PARIS 


Grand  Morin,  and  reached  the  region  of  Chauffry,  to  the  south 
of  Rebais  and  of  Esternay.  It  aimed  then  at  cutting  Joffre 
off  from  Paris,  in  order  to  begin  the  investment  of  the  capital. 

The  Second  army  had  its  head  on  the  line  Champaubert, 
Etoges,  Bergeres,  and  Vertus. 

The  Third  and  Fourth  armies  reached  to  Chalons-sur-Marne 
and  Bussy-le-Repos.  The  Fifth  army  was  advancing  on  one  side 
and  the  other  from  the  Argonne  as  far  as  Triacourt-les-Islettes  and 
Juivecourt.  The  Sixth  and  Seventh  armies  were  attacking  more 
to  the  east. 


114  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  French  left  army  had  been  able  to  occupy  the  line  Sezanne, 
Villers-St.  Georges  and  Courchamps.  This  was  precisely  the  dis- 
position which  the  General-in-Chief  had  wished  to  see  achieved. 
On  the  4th  he  decided  to  take  advantage  of  it,  and  ordered  all  the 
armies  to  hold  themselves  ready.  He  had  taken  from  his  right 
two  new  army  corps,  two  divisions  of  infantry,  and  two  divisions 
of  cavalry,  which  were  distributed  between  his  left  and  his  center, 

On  the  evening  of  the  5th  he  addressed  to  all  the  commanders 
of  armies  a  message  ordering  them  to  attack. 

"The  hour  has  come,"  he  wrote,  "to  advance  at  all  costs, 
and  to  die  where  you  stand  rather  than  give  way." 

If  one  examines  the  map,  it  will  be  seen  that  by  his  inflection 
toward  Meaux  and  Coulommiers  General  von  Kluck  was  exposing 
his  right  to  the  offensive  action  of  the  French  left.  This  is  the 
starting  point  of  the  victory  of  the  Marne. 

On  the  evening  of  September  5th  the  French  left  army  had 
reached  the  front  Penchard-Saint-Souflet-Ver.  On  the  6th  and 
7th  it  continued  its  attacks  vigorously  with  the  Ourcq  as  objective. 
On  the  evening  of  the  7th  it  was  some  kilometers  from  the  Ourcq, 
on  the  front  Chambry-Marcilly-Lisieux-Acy-en-Multien.  On  the 
8th,  the  Germans,  who  had  in  great  haste  reinforced  their  right 
by  bringing  then*  Second  and  Fourth  army  corps  back  to  the 
north,  obtained  some  successes  by  attacks  of  extreme  violence. 
But  in  spite  of  this  pressure  the  French  held  then*  ground.  In  a 
brilliant  action  they  took  three  standards,  and  being  reinforced 
prepared  a  new  attack  for  the  10th.  At  the  moment  that  this 
attack  was  about  to  begin  the  enemy  was  already  in  retreat  toward 
the  north.  The  attack  became  a  pursuit,  and  on  the  12th  the 
French  established  themselves  on  the  Aisne. 

Why  did  the  German  forces  which  were  confronting  the  French, 
and  on  the  evening  before  attacking  so  furiously,  retreat  on  the 
morning  of  the  10th?  Because  in  bringing  back  on  the  6th  several 
army  corps  from  the  south  to  the  north  to  face  the  French  left, 
the  enemy  had  exposed  his  left  to  the  attacks  of  the  now  rested 
British,  who  had  immediately  faced  around  toward  the  north, 
and  to  those  of  the  French  armies  which  were  prolonging  the  English 
lines  to  the  right.  This  is  what  the  French  command  had  sought 
to  bring  about.  This  is  what  happened  on  September  8th  and 
allowed  the  development  and  rehabilitation  which  it  was  to  effect. 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE       115 

On  the  6th  the  British  army  set  out  from  the  line  Rozcy-Lagny 
and  that  evening  reached  the  southward  bank  of  the  Grand  Morin. 
On  the  7th  and  8th  it  continued  its  march,  and  on  the  9th  had 
debouched  to  the  north  of  the  Marne  below  Chateau-Thierry — 
the  town  that  was  to  become  famous  for  the  American  stand  in  1918 
—taking  in  flank  the  German  forces  which  on  that  day  were  oppos- 
ing, on  the  Ourcq,  the  French  left  army.  Then  it  was  that  these 
forces  began  to  retreat,  while  the  British  army,  going  in  pursuit 
and  capturing  seven  guns  and  many  prisoners,  reached  the  Aisne 
between  Soissons  and  Longueval. 

The  role  of  the  French  army,  which  was  operating  to  the  right 
of  the  British  army,  was  threefold.  It  had  to  support  the  British 
attacking  on  its  left.  It  had  on  its  right  to  support  the  center, 
which,  from  September  7th,  had  been  subjected  to  a  German  attack 
of  great  violence.  Finally,  its  mission  was  to  throw  back  the 
three  active  army  corps  and  the  reserve  corps  which  faced  it. 

On  the  7th,  it  made  a  leap  forward,  and  on  the  following  days 
reached  and  crossed  the  Marne,  seizing,  after  desperate  fighting, 
guns,  howitzers,  mitrailleuses,  and  a  million  cartridges.  On  the 
12th  it  established  itself  on  the  north  edge  of  the  Montagne-de- 
Reime  in  contact  with  the  French  center,  which  for  its  part  had 
just  forced  the  enemy  to  retreat  in  haste. 

The  French  center  consisted  of  a  new  army  created  on 
August  29th  and  of  one  of  those  which  at  the  beginning  of  the  cam- 
paign had  been  engaged  in  Belgian  Luxemburg.  The  first  had 
retreated,  on  August  29th  to  September  5th,  from  the  Aisne  to  the 
north  of  the  Marne  and  occupied  the  general  front  Sezanne-Mailly. 
The  second,  more  to  the  east,  had  drawn  back  to  the  south 
of  the  line  Humbauville-Chateau-Beauchamp-Bignicourt-Blesmes- 
Maurupt-le-Montoy. 

The  enemy,  in  view  of  his  right  being  arrested  and  the  defeat 
of  his  enveloping  movement,  made  a  desperate  effort  from  the  7th 
to  the  19th  to  pierce  the  French  center  to  the  west  and  to  the  east 
of  Fere-Champenoise.  On  the  8th  he  succeeded  in  forcing  back 
the  right  of  the  new  French  army,  which  retired  as  far  as  Gouragan- 
£on.  On  the  9th,  at  6  o'clock  in  the  morning,  there  was  a  further 
retreat  to  the  south  of  that  village,  while  on  the  left  the  other 
army  corps  also  had  to  go  back  to  the  line  Allemant-Connantre. 

Despite  this  retreat  General  Foch,  commanding  the  army  of 


116  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  center,  ordered  a  general  offensive  for  the  same  day.  With  the 
Morocco  division,  whose  behavior  was  heroic,  he  met  a  furious 
assault  of  the  Germans  on  his  left  toward  the  marshes  of  Saint 
Gond.  Then,  with  the  divisions  which  had  just  victoriously  over- 
come the  attacks  of  the  enemy  to  the  north  of  Sezanne,  and  with 
the  whole  of  his  left  army  corps,  he  made  a  flanking  attack  in  the 
evening  of  the  9th  upon  the  German  forces,  and  notably  the  guard, 
which  had  thrown  back  his  right  army  corps.  The  enemy,  taken 
by  surprise  by  this  bold  maneuver,  did  not  resist,  and  beat  a  hasty 
retreat.  This  marked  Foch  as  the  most  daring  and  brilliant 
strategist  of  the  war. 

On  the  llth  the  French  crossed  the  Marne  between  Tours-sur- 
Marne  and  Sarry,  driving  the  Germans  in  front  of  them  in  dis- 
order. On  the  12th  they  were  in  contact  with  the  enemy  to  the 
north  of  the  Camp  de  Chalons.  The  reserve  army  of  the  center, 
acting  on  the  right  of  the  one  just  referred  to,  had  been  intrusted 
with  the  mission  during  the  7th,  8th,  and  9th  of  disengaging  its 
neighbor,  and  it  was  only  on  the  10th  that  being  reinforced  by  an 
army  corps  from  the  east,  it  was  able  to  make  its  action  effectively 
felt.  On  the  llth  the  Germans  retired.  But,  perceiving  then: 
danger,  they  fought  desperately,  with  enormous  expenditure  of 
projectiles,  behind  strong  intrenchments.  On  the  12th  the  result 
had  none  the  less  been  attained,  and  the  two  French  center  armies 
were  solidly  established  on  the  ground  gamed. 

To  the  right  of  these  two  armies  were  three  others.  They 
had  orders  to  cover  themselves  to  the  north  and  to  debouch  toward 
the  west  on  the  flank  of  the  enemy,  which  was  operating  to  the 
west  of  the  Argonne.  But  a  wide  interval  hi  which  the  Germans 
were  hi  force  separated  them  from  the  French  center.  The  attack 
took  place,  nevertheless,  with  very  brilliant  success  for  the  French 
artillery,  which  destroyed  eleven  batteries  of  the  Sixteenth  German 
army  corps. 

On  the  10th  hist.,  the  Eighth  and  Fifteenth  German  army 
corps  counter-attacked,  but  were  repulsed.  On  the  llth  French 
progress  continued  with  new  successes,  and  on  the  12th  the  French 
were  able  to  face  round  toward  the  north  in  expectation  of  the 
near  and  inevitable  retreat  of  the  enemy,  which,  in  fact,  took 
place  from  the  13th. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  mass  of  the  German  force  involved 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE       117 

also  that  of  the  left.  From  the  12th  onward  the  forces  of  the 
enemy  operating  between  Nancy  and  the  Vosges  retreated  in  a 
hurry  before  the  two  French  armies  of  the  East,  which  immediately 
occupied  the  positions  that  the  enemy  had  evacuated.  The 
offensive  of  the  French  right  had  thus  prepared  and  consolidated 
in  the  most  useful  way  the  result  secured  by  the  left  and  center. 

Such  was  this  seven  days'  battle,  hi  which  more  than  two 
millions  of  men  were  engaged.  Each  army  gained  ground  step  by 
step,  opening  the  road  to  its  neighbor,  supported  at  once  by  it, 
taking  in  flank  the  adversary  which  the  day  before  it  had  attacked 
in  front,  the  efforts  of  one  articulating  closely  with  those  of  the 
other,  a  perfect  unity  of  intention  and  method  animating  the 
supreme  command. 

To  give  this  victory  all  its  meaning  it  is  necessary  to  add  that 
it  was  gained  by  troops  which  for  two  weeks  had  been  retreating, 
and  which,  when  the  order  for  the  offensive  was  given,  were  found 
to  be  as  ardent  as  on  the  first  day.  It  has  also  to  be  said  that  these 
troops  had  to  meet  the  whole  Germany  army.  Under  their  pres- 
sure the  German  retreat  at  certain  times  had  the  appearance  of  a 
rout. 

In  spite  of  the  fatigue  of  the  poilus,  in  spite  of  the  power  of 
the  German  heavy  artillery,  the  French  took  colors,  guns,  mitrail- 
leuses, shells,  and  thousands  of  prisoners.  One  German  corps 
lost  almost  the  whole  of  its  artillery. 

In  that  great  battle  the  spectacular  rush  of  General  Gallieni's 
army  defending  Paris,  was  one  of  the  dramatic  surprises  that  decided 
the  issue.  In  that  stroke  Gallieni  sent  his  entire  force  forty  miles 
to  attack  the  right  wing  of  the  German  army.  In  this  gigantic 
maneuver  every  motor  car  in  Paris  was  utilized,  and  the  flying 
force  of  Gallieni  became  the  "Army  hi  Taxicabs,"  a  name  that  will 
live  as  long  as  France  exists. 

General  Clergerie,  Chief  of  Staff  to  Gallieni  told  the  story  for 
posterity.  He  said: 

"From  August  26,  1914,  the  German  armies  had  been  descend- 
ing upon  Paris  by  forced  marches.  On  September  1st  they  were 
only  three  days'  march  from  the  advanced  line  of  the  intrenched 
camp,  which  the  garrison  were  laboring  desperately  to  put  into 
condition  for  defense.  It  was  necessary  to  cover  with  trenches  a 
circuit  of  110  miles,  install  siege  guns,  assure  the  coming  of  sup- 


118  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

plies  for  them  over  narrow-gauge  railways,  assemble  the  food  and 
provisions  of  all  kinds  necessary  for  a  city  of  4,000,000  inhabitants. 

"But  on  September  3d,  the  intelligence  service,  which  was 
working  perfectly,  stated,  about  the  middle  of  the  day,  that  the 
German  columns,  after  heading  straight  for  Paris,  were  swerving 
toward  the  southeast  and  seemed  to  wish  to  avoid  the  fortified 
camp. 

"General  Gallieni  and  I  then  had  one  of  those  long  conferences 
which  denoted  grave  events;  they  usually  lasted  from  two  to  five 
minutes  at  most.  The  fact  is  that  the  military  government  of 
Paris  did  little  talking — it  acted.  The  conference  reached  this 
conclusion:  'If  they  do  not  come  to  us,  we  will  go  to  them  with  all 
the  force  we  can  muster.'  Nothing  remained  but  to  make  the 
necessary  preparations.  The  first  thing  to  do  was  not  to  give  the 
alarm  to  the  enemy.  General  Manoury's  army  immediately 
received  orders  to  lie  low  and  avoid  any  engagement  that  was  not 
absolutely  necessary."  Then  care  was  taken  to  reinforce  it  by 
every  means.  All  was  ready  at  the  designated  time. 

In  the  night  of  September  3d,  knowing  that  the  enemy  would 
have  to  leave  only  a  rear  guard  on  one  bank  of  the  Ourcq,  General 
Gallieni  and  General  Clergerie  decided  to  march  against  that 
rear  guard,  to  drive  it  back  with  all  the  weight  of  the  Manoury 
army,  to  cut  the  enemy's  communications,  and  take  full  advantage 
of  his  hazardous  situation.  Immediately  the  following  order  was 
addressed  to  General  Manoury: 

Because  of  the  movement  of  the  German  armies,  which  seem  to  be 
slipping  in  before  our  front  to  the  southeast,  I  intend  to  send  your  army 
to  attack  them  in  the  flank,  that  is  to  say,  in  an  easterly  direction.  I  will 
indicate  your  line  of  march  as  soon  as  I  learn  that  of  the  British  army. 
But  make  your  arrangements  now  so  that  your  troops  shall  be  ready  to 
march  this  afternoon  and  to  begin  a  general  movement  east  of  the 
intrenched  camp  tomorrow. 

At  ten  in  the  morning  a  consultation  was  held  by  Generals 
Gallieni,  Clergerie,  and  Manoury,  and  the  details  of  the  plan  of 
operations  were  immediately  decided.  General  Joffre  gave  per- 
mission to  attack  and  announced  that  he  would  himself  take  the 
offensive  on  the  6th.  On  the  5th,  at  noon,  the  army  from  Paris 
fired  the  first  shot;  the  battle  of  the  Ourcq,  a  preface  to  the  Marne, 
had  begun. 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE       119 

General  Clergerie  then  told  what  a  precious  purveyor  of  infor- 
mation he  had  found  in  General  von  der  Marwitz,  cavalry  com- 
mander of  the  German  first  army,  who  made  intemperate  use 
of  the  wireless  telegraph  and  did  not  even  take  the  trouble  to  put 
into  cipher  his  dispatches,  of  which  the  Eiffel  Tower  made  a  careful 
collection.  "In  the  evening  of  September  9th,"  he  said,  "an 
officer  of  the  intelligence  corps  brought  me  a  dispatch  from  thin 
same  Marwitz  couched  hi  something  like  these  terms:  'Tell  me 
exactly  where  you  are  and  what  you  are  doing.  Hurry  up,  because 
XXX.'  The  officer  was  greatly  embarrassed  to  interpret  those 
three  X's.  Adopting  the  language  of  the  poilu,  I  said  to  him, 
'Translate  it,  "I  am  going  to  bolt."  True  enough,  next  day  we 
found  on  the  site  of  the  German  batteries,  which  had  been  pre- 
cipitately evacuated,  stacks  of  munitions;  while  by  the  roadside 
we  came  upon  motors  abandoned  for  the  slightest  breakdown,  and 
near  Betz  almost  the  entire  outfit  of  a  field  bakery,  with  a  great 
store  of  flour  and  dough  half-kneaded.  Paris  and  France  were 
saved. 

"Von  Kluck  could  not  get  over  his  astonishment.  He  has 
tried  to  explain  it  by  saying  he  was  unlucky,  for  out  of  a  hundred 
governors  not  one  would  have  acted  as  Gallieni  did,  throwing  his 
whole  available  force  nearly  forty  miles  from  his  stronghold.  It 
was  downright  imprudence." 


CHAPTER  VIII 
JAPAN  IN  THE  WAR 

ON  AUGUST  15,  1914,  the  Empire  of  Japan  issued  an 
ultimatum  to  Germany.  She  demanded  the  evacuation 
of  Tsing-tau,  the  disarming  of  the  warships  there  and 
the  handing  over  of  the  territory  to  Japan  for  ultimate 
reversion  to  China.  The  time  limit  for  her  reply  was  set  at 
12  o'clock,  August  24th.  To  this  ultimatum  Germany  made  no 
reply,  and  at  2.30  P.  M.,  August  23d,  the  German  Ambassador 
was  handed  his  passports  and  war  was  declared. 

The  reason  for  the  action  of  Japan  was  simple.  She  was  bound 
by  treaty  to  Great  Britain  to  come  to  her  aid  hi  any  war  hi  which 
Great  Britain  might  be  involved.  On  August  4th  a  note  was 
received  from  Great  Britain  requesting  Japan  to  safeguard  British 
shipping  hi  the  Far  East.  Japan  replied  that  she  could  not  guarantee 
the  safety  of  British  shipping  so  long  as  Germany  was  in  occupation 
of  the  Chinese  province  of  Tsing-tau.  She  suggested  in  turn  that 
England  agree  to  allow  her  to  remove  this  German  menace.  The 
British  Government  agreed,  on  the  condition  that  Tsing-tau  be 
subsequently  returned  to  China. 

The  Japanese  Government  in  taking  this  stand  was  acting 
with  courage  and  with  loyalty.  Toward  individual  Germans  she 
entertained  no  animosity.  She  had  the  highest  respect  for  German 
scholarship  and  German  military  science.  She  had  been  sending 
her  young  men  to  German  seats  of  learning,  and  had  based  the 
reorganization  of  her  army  upon  the  German  military  system.  But 
she  did  not  believe  that  a  treaty  was  a  inere  "  scrap  of  paper," 
and  was  determined  to  fulfil  her  obligations  in  the  treaty  with 
England. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  opinion  of  the  highest  Japanese 
military  authorities  that  Germany  would  win  the  war.  Japan's 
statesmen,  however,  believed  that  Germany  was  a  menace  to  both 
China  and  Japan  and  had  lively  recollections  of  her  unfriendly 
attitude  in  connection  with  the  Chino-Japanese  war  and  in  the  period 

190 


JAPAN  IN  THE  WAR  121 

that  followed.  Germany  had  been  playing  the  same  game  in  China 
that  she  had  played  in  the  Mediterranean  and  which  had  ultimately 
brought  about  the  war. 

The  Chino- Japanese  war  had  been  a  great  Japanese  triumph. 
One  of  Japan's  greatest  victories  had  been  the  capture  of  Port 
Arthur,  but  the  joy  caused  in  Japan  had  not  ended  before  it  was 
turned  into  mourning  because  of  German  interference.  Germany 
had  then  compelled  Japan  to  quit  Port  Arthur,  and  to  hand  over 
that  great  fort  to  Russia  so  that  she  herself  might  take  Kiao-chau 
without  Russia's  objection. 

Japan  had  never  forgotten  or  forgiven.  The  German  seizure 
of  Kiao-chau  had  led  to  the  Russian  occupation  of  Port  Arthur, 
the  British  occupation  of  Wei-hai-wei  and  French  occupation  of 
Kwan-chow  Bay.  The  vultures  were  swooping  down  on  defenseless 
China.  This  had  led  to  the  Boxer  disturbance  of  1910,  where 
again  the  Kaiser  had  interfered. 

Japan,  who  recognized  that  her  interests  and  safety  were 
closely  allied  with  the  preservation  of  the  territorial  integrity  of 
China,  had  proposed  to  the  powers  that  she  be  permitted  to  send 
her  troops  to  the  rescue  of  the  beleaguered  foreigners,  but  this 
proposition  was  refused  on  account  of  German  suspicion  of  Japan's 
motives.  Later  on,  during  the  Russo-Japanese  war,  Russia  was 
assisted  in  many  ways  by  the  German  Government. 

Furthermore,  the  popular  sympathy  with  the  Japanese  was 
strongly  with  the  Allies.  It  was  the  Kaiser  who  started  the  cry 
of  the  " yellow  peril,"  which  had  deeply  hurt  Japanese  pride.  Yet, 
even  with  this  strong  feeling,  it  was  remarkable  that  Japan  was 
willing  to  ally  herself  with  Russia.  She  knew  very  well  that  after 
all  the  greatest  danger  to  her  liberties  lay  across  the  Japan  Sea. 
Russian  autocracy,  with  its  militarism,  its  religious  intolerance,  its 
discriminating  policy  against  foreign  interests  in  commerce  and 
trade,  was  the  natural  opponent  of  liberal  Japan. 

The  immediate  object  of  Japan  in  joining  hands  with  England 
was  to  destroy  the  German  menace  in  the  Pacific.  Before  she 
delivered  her  ultimatum  the  Germans  had  been  active;  ignoring 
the  rights  of  Japan  while  she  was  still  neutral  they  had  captured 
a  Russian  steamer  within  Japanese  jurisdiction,  as  well  as  a  number 
of  British  merchant  vessels,  and  even  a  few  Japanese  ships  had 
been  intercepted  by  German  cruisers.  This  was  the  disturbance 


122  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

to  general  peace  in  the  Far  East,  which  had  prompted  England  to 
request  Japan's  assistance. 

Japan,  when  she  entered  the  war,  was  at  least  twice  as  strong 
as  when  she  began  the  war  with  Russia.  She  had  an  army  of  one 
million  men,  and  a  navy  double  the  size  of  that  which  she  had 
possessed  when  the  Treaty  of  Portsmouth  was  signed.  As  soon  as 
war  was  declared  she  proceeded  to  act.  A  portion  of  her  fleet  was 
directed  against  the  German  forces  hi  the  Pacific,  one  squadron 
occupying  Jaluit,  the  seat  of  government  of  the  Marshall  Islands, 
on  October  3d,  but  her  main  forces  were  directed  against  the  fortress 
of  Tsing-tau. 

The  Germans  had  taken  great  pride  in  Tsing-tau,  and  had 
made  every  effort  to  make  it  a  model  colony  as  well  as  an  impregna- 
ble fortress.  They  had  built  costly  water  works,  fine  streets  and 
fine  public  buildings.  They  had  been  making  great  preparations 
for  a  state  of  siege,  although  it  was  not  expected  that  they  would  be 
able  to  hold  out  for  a  long  tune.  There  were  hardly  more  than 
five  thousand  soldiers  in  the  fortress,  and  in  the  harbor  but  four 
small  gunboats  and  an  Austrian  cruiser,  the  Kaiserin  Elizabeth. 
As  Austria  was  not  at  war  with  Japan  the  authorization  of  Japan 
was  asked  for  the  removal  of  the  Kaiserin  Elizabeth  to  Shanghai, 
where  she  could  be  interned.  The  Japanese  were  favorable  to  this 
proposition,  but  at  the  last  moment  instructions  arrived  from  Vienna 
directing  the  Austro-Hungarian  Ambassador  to  ask  for  his  pass- 
ports at  Tokio  and  the  commander  of  the  Kaiserin  Elizabeth  to 
assist  the  Germans  in  the  defense  of  Tsing-tau.  The  Germans  also 
received  orders  to  defend  their  fortress  to  the  very  last.  A  portion  of 
the  German  squadron,  under  Admiral  von  Spec,  had  sailed  away 
before  the  Japanese  attack,  one  of  these  being  the  famous  commerce 
raider,  the  Emden. 

On  the  27th  of  August  the  Japanese  made  their  first  move  by 
taking  possession  of  some  of  the  small  islands  at  the  mouth  of  the 
harbor  of  Kiao-chau.  From  these  points  as  bases  they  swept  the 
surrounding  waters  for  mines,  with  such  success  that  during  the 
whole  siege  but  one  vessel  of  their  fleet  was  injured  by  a  mine. 
On  the  2d  of  September  they  landed  troops  at  the  northern  base  of 
the  peninsula  upon  which  Tsing-tau  was  situated,  with  the  object 
of  cutting  off  the  fortress  from  the  mainland. 

The  heavy  rains  which  were  customary  at  that  season  prevented 


JAPAN  IN  THE  WAR 


123 


much  action,  but  airplanes  were  sent  which  dropped  bombs  upon 
the  wireless  station,  electric  power  station  and  railway  station  of 
Kiao-chau,  and  upon  the  ships  in  the  harbor.  On  September  13th 
General  Kamio  captured  the  railway  station  of  Kiao-chau  which 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  bay.  This  placed  him  twenty-two  miles 
from  Tsing-tau  itself.  On  September  27th  he  captured  Prince 
Heinrich  Hill  giving  him  a  gun  position  from  which  he  could  attack 
the  inner  forts.  On  the  23d  a  small  British  force  arrived  from 
Wei-hai-wei  to  co-operate  with  the  Japanese. 


tu-lumg  ttuu.       \    ^ 
rtD  BY  JAPS  FOR  V 

NAVAL  BASE      V  {,        * 

\  ,.«;V 

>v 


THE  GERMAN  GIBRALTAR  IN  THE  FAR  EAST  WHICH  FELL  TO  THE  JAPANESE 

The  combined  forces  then  advanced  until  they  were  only  five 
miles  from  Tsing-tau.  The  German  warships  were  bombarding 
the  Japanese  troops  fiercely,  and  were  being  replied  to  by  the 
Japanese  squadron  in  the  mouth  of  the  harbor.  The  great  waste 
of  German  ammunition  led  General  Kamio  to  the  opinion  that  the 


124  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Germans  did  not  contemplate  a  long  siege.  He  then  determined 
on  a  vigorous  assault. 

Before  the  attack  was  made  he  gave  the  non-combatants  an 
opportunity  of  leaving,  and  on  the  15th  of  October  a  number  of 
women  and  children  and  Chinese  were  allowed  to  pass  through  the 
Japanese  lines.  On  October  31st  the  bombardment  began,  and  the 
German  forts  were  gradually  silenced.  On  November  2d  the 
Kaiserin  Elizabeth  was  sunk  hi  the  harbor. 

The  Allied  armies  were  pushing  their  way  steadily  down,  until, 
on  November  6th,  their  trenches  were  along  the  edge  of  the  last 
German  redoubts.  At  6  o'clock  on  that  day  white  flags  were 
floating  over  the  central  forts  and  by  7.30  Admiral  Waldeck,  the 
German  Governor,  had  signed  the  terms  of  capitulation. 

Germany's  prize  colony  on  the  continent  of  Asia  had  dis- 
appeared. The  survivors,  numbering  about  three  thousand,  were 
sent  to  Japan  as  prisoners  of  war.  Japanese  losses  were  but  two 
hundred  and  thirty-six  men  killed.  They  had,  however,  lost  one 
third-class  cruiser,  the  Takachiho,  and  several  smaller  crafts. 
The  whole  expedition  was  a  notable  success.  It  had  occupied  much 
less  tune  than  either  Japan  or  Germany  had  expected,  and  the  news 
was  received  hi  Germany  with  a  universal  feeling  of  bitterness  and 
chagrin. 

After  the  Japanese  capture  of  Kiao-chau  Japan's  assistance  to 
the  Allies,  while  not  spectacular,  was  extremely  important,  and  its 
importance  increased  during  the  last  two  years  of  the  war.  Her 
cruiser  squadrons  did  continuous  patrol  duty  in  the  Pacific  and  in 
the  China  Sea  and  even  in  the  Indian  Ocean.  She  occupied  three 
groups  of  German  Islands  in  the  South  Sea,  assisted  in  driving 
German  raiders  from  the  Pacific,  and  by  her  efficiency  permitted 
a  withdrawal  of  British  warships  to  points  where  they  could  be 
useful  nearer  home.  She  patrolled  the  Pacific  coast  of  North  and 
South  America,  landed  marines  to  quell  riots  at  Singapore, 
and  finally  entered  into  active  service  hi  European  waters  by  send- 
ing a  destroyer  squadron  to  the  assistance  of  the  Allies  hi  the 
Mediterranean. 

But  while  the  aid  of  Japan's  navy  was  important  to  the  Allies, 
her  greatest  assistance  to  the  Allied  cause  was  what  she  did  in 
supplying  Russia  with  military  supplies.  The  tremendous  struggle 
carried  on  by  Russia's  forces  during  the  first  years  prevented  an 


JAPAN  IN  THE   WAR  125 

easy  German  victory,  and  was  only  made  possible  through  the 
assistance  of  Japan.  Enormous  quantities  of  guns,  ammunition, 
military  stores,  hospital  and  Red  Cross  supplies,  were  sent  into 
Russia,  with  skilled  officers  and  experts  to  accompany  them. 
In  the  last  year  of  the  war  Japan  once  more  came  prominently 
in  the  public  eye  in  connection  with  the  effort  made  by  the  Allies 
to  protect  from  the  Russian  Bolsheviki  vast  stores  of  ammunition 
which  had  been  landed  in  ports  of  Eastern  Siberia.  She  was  com- 
pelled to  land  troops  to  do  this  and  to  preserve  order  in  localities 
where  her  citizens  were  in  danger.  Upon  the  development  of  the 
Czecho-Slovak  movement  in  Eastern  Siberia  a  Japanese  force,  in 
association  with  troops  from  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
was  landed  to  protect  the  Czecho-Slovaks  from  Bolsheviki  treachery. 
These  troops  succeeded  in  their  object,  and  throughout  the  latter 
period  of  the  war  kept  Eastern  Siberia  friendly  to  the  Allied  cause. 
In  this  campaign  there  wras  but  little  blood  shed.  The  expedition 
was  followed  by  the  strong  sympathy  of  the  allied  world  which  was 
full  of  admiration  for  the  loyalty  and  courage  of  the  Czecho- 
slovaks and  their  heroic  leaders. 


CHAPTER  IX 
CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  EAST 

CIG  before  the  declaration  of  war  the  German  military  experts 
had  made  their  plans.  They  recognized  that  in  case  of 
war  with  Russia,  France  would  come  to  the  rescue  of  its 
ally.  They  hoped  that  Italy,  and  felt  sure  that  England, 
would  remain  neutral,  but,  no  doubt,  had  provided  for  the  possi- 
bility that  these  two  nations  would  join  the  ranks  of  their  foes. 
They  recognized  that  they  would  be  compelled  to  fight  against 
greatly  superior  numbers,  but  they  had  this  advantage,  that  they 
were  prepared  to  move  at  once,  while  England  was  unprepared, 
and  Russia,  with  enormous  numbers,  was  so  unprovided  with  rail- 
road facilities  that  it  would  take  weeks  before  her  armies  would  be 
dangerous. 

Their  plan  of  campaign,  then,  was  obvious.  Leaving  in  the 
east  only  such  forces  as  were  necessary  for  a  strong  defense,  they 
would  throw  the  bulk  of  their  strength  against  the  French.  They 
anticipated  an  easy  march  to  Paris,  and  then  with  France  at  their 
mercy  they  would  gather  together  all  then*  powers  and  deal  with 
Russia.  But  they  had  underestimated  both  the  French  power  of 
resistance,  and  the  Russian  weakness,  and  in  particular  they  had 
not  counted  upon  the  check  that  they  were  to  meet  with  in  gallant 
Belgium. 

The  Russian  mobilization  was  quicker  by  far  than  had  been 
anticipated.  Her  armies  were  soon  engaged  with  the  compara- 
tively small  German  forces,  and  met  with  great  success. 

To  understand  the  Russian  campaign  one  must  have  some 
knowledge  of  the  geography  of  western  Russia.  Russian  Poland 
projects  as  a  great  quadrilateral  into  eastern  Germany.  It  is 
bounded  on  the  north  by  East  Prussia,  on  the  south  by  Galicia, 
and  the  western  part  reaches  deep  into  Germany  itself.  The 
land  is  a  broad,  level  plain,  through  which  from  south  to  north 
runs  the  River  Vistula.  In  the  center  lies  the  capital,  Warsaw, 
protected  by  a  group  of  fortresses.  The  Russian  army,  therefore, 

126 


CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  EAST 

could  not  make  a  direct  western  advance  until  it  had  protected 
its  flanks  by  the  conquest  of  East  Prussia  on  the  north,  and  Galicia 
on  the  south. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  third  week  in  August  the  first  Russian 
armies  were  ready.  Her  forces  were  arranged  as  follows:  Facing 
East  Prussia  was  the  Army  of  the  Niemen,  four  corps  strong;  the 
Army  of  Poland,  consisting  of  fifteen  army  corps,  occupied  a  wide 
front  from  Narev  on  the  north  to  the  Bug  Valley;  a  third  army, 
the  Army  of  Galicia,  directed  its  line  of  advance  southward  into 
the  country  between  Lemberg  and  the  River  Sareth.  The  fortresses 
protecting  Warsaw,  still  further  to  the  east,  were  well  garrisoned, 
and  in  front  of  them  to  the  west  were  troops  intended  to  delay  any 
German  advance  from  Posen.  The  Russian  commander-in-chief 
was  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  uncle  of  the  late  Czar,  and  one  of 
the  most  admirable  representatives  of  the  Russian  at  his  best; 
a  splendid  soldier,  honest,  straightforward,  and  patriotic,  he  was 
the  idol  of  his  men.  He  had  with  him  a  brilliant  staff,  but  the 
strength  of  his  army  lay  hi  its  experience.  They  had  learned  war 
in  the  bitter  school  of  the  Manchurian  campaign. 

The  German  force  on  the  frontier  was  not  less  than  five  hundred 
thousand  men,  and  they  were  arranged  for  defense.  Austria,  in 
Galicia,  had  gathered  nearly  one  million  men  under  the  auspices  of 
Frederick.  The  first  movement  of  these  armies  took  place  in  East 
Prussia.  The  Army  of  the  Niemen  had  completed  its  mobilization 
early  in  August,  and  was  under  the  command  of  General  Rennen- 
kampf,  one  of  the  Russian  leaders  in  Manchuria.  In  command  of 
the  German  forces  was  General  von  Francois,  an  officer  of  Huguenot 
descent. 

The  first  clash  of  these  armies  took  place  on  the  German 
frontier  near  Libau,  on  August  3d.  Two  days  later,  the  Russians 
crossed  the  frontier,  drove  in  the  German  advance  posts,  and  seized 
the  railway  which  runs  south  and  east  of  the  Masurian  Lakes. 
The  German  force  fell  back,  burning  villages  and  destroying  roads, 
according  to  then*  usual  plan.  On  the  7th  of  August  the  main 
army  of  Rennenkampf  crossed  the  border  at  Suwalki,  advancing 
in  two  main  bodies :  the  Army  of  the  Niemen  moving  north  from 
Suwalki,  the  Army  of  the  Narev  marching  through  the  region  of  the 
Masurian  Lakes.  In  the  lake  district  they  advanced  toward  Boyen, 
and  then  directed  their  march  toward  Insterburg. 


128  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

To  protect  Insterburg,  General  von  Frangois  made  his  first 
stand  at  Gumbinnen,  where,  on  the  16th  of  August,  the  first  impor- 
tant battle  of  this  campaign  took  place.  The  result  was  the  defeat 
and  retirement  of  the  Germans,  and  von  Francois  was  forced  to 
fall  back  on  Koenigsberg. 

Meantime,  the  Army  of  the  Narev,  under  General  Samsonov, 
was  advancing  through  the  country  west  of  the  Masurian  Lakes. 
On  the  20th  his  vanguard  came  upon  a  German  army  corps,  strongly 
entrenched  at  the  northwest  end  of  the  lakes.  The  Germans  were 
defeated,  and  fled  in  great  disorder  toward  Koenigsberg,  abandoning 
their  guns  and  wagons.  Many  prisoners  were  taken,  and  the 
Russians  found  themselves  masters  of  all  of  East  Prussia  except 
that  inside  the  Koenigsberg  line.  They  then  marched  on  Koenigs- 
berg, and  East  Prussia  was  for  a  moment  at  the  mercy  of  the 
conqueror. 

Troops  were  left  to  invest  Koenigsberg,  and  East  Prussia  was 
overrun  with  the  enemy.  The  report  as  to  the  behavior  of  these 
troops  met  with  great  indignation  in  Germany;  but  better  informa- 
tion insists  that  they  behaved  with  decorum  and  discretion.  The 
peasantry  of  East  Prussia,  remembering  wild  tales  of  the  Cossacks 
of  a  hundred  years  before,  fled  in  confusion  with  stories  of  burning 
and  slaughter  and  outrage. 

Germany  became  aroused.  To  thoroughly  understand  the 
effect  of  the  Russian  invasion  of  East  Prussia,  one  must  know  some- 
thing of  the  relations  of  that  district  with  the  German  Empire. 
Historically,  this  was  the  cradle  of  the  Prussian  aristocracy,  whose 
dangerous  policies  had  alarmed  Europe  for  so  many  decades. 
The  Prussian  aristocracy  originated  in  a  mixture  of  certain  west 
German  and  Christian  knights,  with  a  pagan  population  of  the 
eastern  Baltic  plain.  The  district  was  separate  from  Poland  and 
never  fell  under  the  Polish  influence.  It  was  held  by  the  Teutonic 
knights  who  conquered  it  in  a  sort  of  savage  independence.  The 
Christian  faith,  which  the  Teutonic  knights  professed  to  inculcate, 
took  little  root,  but  such  civilization  as  Germany  itself  had  absorbed 
did  filter  in.  The  chief  noble  of  Borussia,  the  governing  Duke, 
acquired  in  time  the  title  of  King,  and  it  was  here,  not  in  Berlin, 
nor  in  Brandenburg,  that  the  Hohenzollern  power  originated. 

East  Prussia,  therefore,  had  a  sentimental  importance  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Prussian  nobility.  The  Prussian  Royal  House, 


a 
."? 


£j  a=  ® 

P"?  3 
Sera  g 

•£.£2: 


ra 


c  «.^  _ 

tR  —  o    O 

5£e  o   « 


r& 


o 
o 

C/5 


•o  o 


•SS 


03 

•^  S-'o 

O  ST  P 


CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  EAST 


131 


CL/LF      of 


WWGSeflK 

s  " 


DflMZJG- 


r     a   5 ?O O 

t&      /HSTER&UK^ 

/;*,        \ 


QSUW&LK/ 
&  ^  LYCK       \  0 

C^^^}^U&UST0^ 

^S^&swHUJevo 


r      •> 

THORfi 


w  ^\ 

* 


C3 


L     QPJ.££CHi 

iJ^i/Uteto—tocr' 

v        V^^Or     ^T^OLUSK/ 
^T\s/0SSh   ^/A77^ 


CZ^  /WtO*W\^K^ 


THE  EASTERN  FIGHTING  ZONE. 


132  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

in  particular,  had  toward  this  country  an  especial  regard.  More- 
over, it  was  regarded  by  the  Germans  as  a  whole  as  their  rampart 
against  the  Slav,  a  proof  of  the  German  power  to  withstand  the 
dreaded  Russian.  That  this  sacred  soil  should  now  be  in  the  hands 
of  a  Cossack  army  was  not  to  be  borne.  The  Kaiser  acted  at  once. 

Large  forces  were  detached  from  the  west  and  sent  to  the  aid 
of  the  eastern  army.  A  new  commander  was  appointed.  He  was 
General  von  Hindenburg,  a  veteran  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War 
who  had  been  for  some  years  retired.  After  his  retirement  he 
devoted  his  time  to  the  study  of  East  Prussia,  especially  the  ground 
around  the  Masurian  Lakes.  He  became  more  familiar  with  its 
roads,  its  fields,  its  marshes,  its  bogs  than  any  of  the  peasants  who 
spent  their  lives  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  lakes.  Before  his 
retirement,  hi  the  annual  maneuvers,  he  had  often  rehearsed  his 
defense  against  Russian  invaders.  Indeed  report,  perhaps 
unfounded,  described  his  retirement  to  the  displeasure  of  the 
Emperor  William  at  being  badly  worsted  in  one  of  these  mimic 
combats.  He  had  prevented  the  country  from  being  cleared  and 
the  swamps  from  being  drained,  arguing  that  they  were  worth 
more  to  Germany  than  a  dozen  fortresses.  A  man  of  rugged 
strength,  his  face  suggesting  power  and  tenacity,  he  was  to  become 
the  idol  of  the  German  people. 

His  chance  had  come.  His  army  consisted  of  remnants  of  the 
forces  of  von  Fra^ois  and  large  reinforcements  sent  him  from  the 
west.  In  all,  perhaps,  he  had  with  him  150,000  men,  and  he  had 
behind  him  an  admirable  system  of  strategic  railways. 

The  Russian  High  Command  was  full  of  confidence.  Rennen- 
kampf  had  advanced  with  the  Army  of  the  Niemen  toward 
Koenigsberg,  whose  fall  was  reported  from  time  to  time,  without 
foundation.  Koenigsberg  was  in  fact  impregnable  to  armies  no 
stronger  than  those  under  Rennenkampf's  command.  Samsonov 
with  the  Army  of  the  Narev,  had  pushed  on  to  the  northeastern 
point  of  the  lakes,  and  defeated  the  German  army  corps  at 
Frankenau.  Misled  by  his  success,  he  decided  to  continue  his 
advance  through  the  lake  region  toward  Allenstein.  He  marched 
first  toward  Osterode,  in  the  wilderness  of  forest,  lake  and  marsh, 
between  Allenstein  and  the  Lower  Vistula.  His  force  numbered 
200,000  men,  but  the  swamps  made  it  impossible  to  proceed  in  mass. 
His  column  had  to  be  temporarily  divided,  nor  was  he  well  informed 


CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  EAST  133 

as  to  the  strength  of  his  enemy.  On  Wednesday,  the  26th  of 
August,  his  advance  guards  were  everywhere  driven  in.  As  he 
pushed  on  he  discovered  the  enemy  in  great  numbers,  and  late 
in  the  day  realized  that  he  was  facing  a  great  army. 

Von  Hindenburg  had  taken  a  position  astride  the  railway  from 
Allenstein  to  Soldau,  and  all  access  to  his  front  was  barred  by 
lakes  and  swamps.  He  was  safe  from  frontal  attack,  and  could 
reinforce  each  wing  at  pleasure.  From  his  right  ran  the  only  two 
good  roads  in  the  region,  and  at  his  left  was  the  Osterode  railway. 
On  the  first  day  he  stood  on  the  defensive,  while  the  Russians, 
confident  of  victory,  attacked  again  and  again.  Some  ground  was 
won  and  prisoners  captured,  and  the  news  of  a  second  victory  was 
sent  to  western  Europe. 

The  battle  continued,  however,  until  the  last  day  of  August 
and  is  known  as  the  battle  of  Tannenberg,  from  a  village  of  that 
name  near  the  marshes.  Having  worn  down  his  enemy,  von 
Hindenburg  counter-attacked.  His  first  movement  was  on  his 
right.  This  not  only  deceived  Samsonov  and  led  him  to  reinforce 
his  left,  but  also  enabled  von  Hindenburg  to  seize  the  only  good 
road  that  would  give  the  Russian  army  a  chance  of  retreat.  Mean- 
while the  German  general  was  hurrying  masses  of  troops  north- 
eastward to  outflank  the  Russian  right.  While  the  Russians  were 
reinforcing  one  flank,  he  was  concentrating  every  man  he  could 
upon  the  other.  Then  his  left  swept  southward,  driving  in  and 
enveloping  the  Russian  right,  and  Samsonov  was  driven  into  a 
country  full  of  swamps  and  almost  without  roads. 

To  thoroughly  understand  the  plight  of  the  Russian  army 
one  must  have  some  idea  of  the  character  of  the  Masurian  Lake 
district.  It  was  probably  molded  by  the  work  of  ice  in  the  past. 
Great  glaciers,  in  their  progress  toward  the  sea,  have  ground  out 
hundreds  of  hollows,  where  are  found  small  pools  and  consider- 
able lakes.  From  these  glaciers  have  been  dropped  patches  of 
clay  which  hold  the  waters  in  wide  extents  of  marsh  and  bog. 
The  country  presents  a  monotonous  picture  of  low,  rounded  swells 
and  flats,  interspersed  with  stunted  pine  and  birch  woods.  The 
marshes  and  the  lakes  form  a  labyrinth,  difficult  to  pass  even  to 
those  familiar  with  the  country.  The  Masurian  region  is  a  great 
trap  for  any  commander  who  has  not  had  unlimited  acquaintance 
with  the  place.  Causeways,  filled  with  great  care,  and  railroads 


134  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

permit  an  orderly  advance,  but  in  a  confused  retreat  disaster  at 
once  threatens. 

This  was  the  ground  that  von  Hindenburg  knew  so  well. 
The  Russians  resisted  desperately,  but  their  position  could  not 
be  held.  Disaster  awaited  them.  They  found  their  guns  sinking 
to  the  axle-trees  hi  mire.  Whole  regiments  were  driven  into  the 
lakes  and  drowned.  On  the  last  day  of  battle,  August  31st,  Sam- 
sonov  himself  was  killed,  and  his  army  completely  destroyed. 
Fifty  thousand  prisoners  were  taken  with  hundreds  of  guns  and 
quantities  of  supplies.  Von  Hindenburg  had  attained  the  triumph 
of  which  he  had  so  long  dreamed. 

It  was  an  immensely  successful  example  of  that  enveloping 
movement  characteristic  of  German  warfare,  a  victory  recalling 
the  battle  of  Sedan,  and  it  was  upon  a  scale  not  inferior  to  that 
battle. 

The  news  of  this  great  triumph  reached  Berlin  upon  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  battle  of  Sedan,  and  on  the  same  day  that  the  news  came 
from  the  west  that  von  Kluck  had  reached  the  gates  of  Paris  and  it 
had  a  profound  effect  upon  the  German  mind.  They  had  grown  to 
believe  that  the  Germans  were  a  sort  of  superman;  these  wonderful 
successes  confirmed  them  in  this  belief. 

No  longer  did  they  talk  of  a  mere  defense  in  the  east;  an 
advance  on  Warsaw  was  demanded  and  von  Hindenburg  was 
acclaimed  the  greatest  soldier  of  his  day.  The  Emperor  made  him 
Field  Marshal,  and  placed  him  hi  command  of  the  Teutonic  armies 
hi  the  east. 

But  von  Hindenburg  was  not  satisfied.  The  remnant  of  the 
defeated  army  had  fled  toward  Narev,  and  without  losing  a  moment 
von  Hindenburg  set  off  hi  pursuit.  Rennenkampf,  all  this  time, 
strange  to  say,  had  made  no  move,  and  at  the  news  of  Samsonov's 
disaster  he  abandoned  the  siege  of  Koenigsberg  and  retreated  toward 
the  Niemen.  At  Gumbinnen  he  fought  a  rear-guard  action  with 
the  German  left,  but  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the  Niemen  must 
be  the  Russian  line  of  defense.  Von  Hindenburg,  following,  crossed 
the  Russian  frontier  and  in  the  wide  forests  near  Augustovo  there 
was  much  fighting. 

This  action,  described  as  the  first  battle  of  Augustovo,  was  only 
a  rear-guard  action,  the  Russians  desiring  merely  to  delay  the 
enemy  for  a  day  or  two.  German  reports,  however,  described  it  as 


'LEADING  GERMAN   GENERALS 

Von  Hindenburg,  Chief  of  the  German  General  Staff;  von  Ludendorff, 
Strategist  of  the  General  Staff;  von  Moltke,  dismissed  by  the  Kaiser  for  incom- 
petency ;  von  Mackensen,  Commander  in  the  East;  Crown  Prince  Rupprecht  of 
Bavaria,  Army  Commander  in  the  West. 


& 

,H 


f  8  fl 
s  bco 

<ft 
i« 

C    fl 
H    o 


«M 

§s 

>-s 

• 

*HT3 

JS  fl 

IK 

n  a 

_  o 

LI 

C  > 

B 

o 

> 

| 

fc 

1 

CO 

d 

^S 

is 

S.a 

« 
§ 

rifiW 

^j 

8*    rt 

2 

^§ 

J3 
v 

g 

fl    > 

0 

"a 

W 
O 

> 

73 

i 

w 

"Q 

a 

fc_ 

c^**™1 

o 

5 

o  o 

> 

p  I 

s 


CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  EAST  137 

a  victory  only  second  in  importance  to  Tannenberg.  Von  Hinden- 
burg  then  occupied  Suwalki.  He  apparently  had  become  over 
confident,  and  hardly  realized  that  Rennenkampf  was  continually 
being  reinforced  by  the  Russian  mobilization. 

The  Russian  High  Command  understood  the  situation  very 
well.  Their  aim  was  to  keep  von  Hindenburg  busy  on  the  Niemen, 
while  their  armies  in  the  south  were  overwhelming  the  fleeing 
Austrians.  Von  Hindenburg  was  deceived,  and  continued  his 
advance  until  he  got  into  serious  trouble.  His  movement  had  begun 
on  September  7th;  his  army  consisted  of  the  four  corps  with  which 
he  had  won  Tannenberg,  and  large  reinforcements  from  Germany, 
including  at  least  one  guards  battalion,  and  a  number  of  Saxons 
and  Bavarians.  The  country  is  one  vast  mixture  of  marsh  and  lake 
and  bog.  The  roads  are  few,  and  advance  must  therefore  be  slow 
and  difficult.  Rennenkampf  made  no  attempt  to  delay  him  beyond 
a  little  rear-guard  fighting.  The  German  army  reached  the  Niemen 
on  September  21st,  and  found  behind  it  the  Russian  army  in  pre- 
pared positions,  with  large  reinforcements  from  Vilna. 

The  river  at  this  point  was  wide  and  deep,  and  hard  to  cross. 
The  battle  of  the  Niemen  Crossings  was  an  artillery  duel.  The 
Russians  quietly  waited  in  their  trenches  to  watch  the  Germans 
build  then-  pontoon  bridges.  Then  their  guns  blew  the  bridges  to 
pieces.  Thereupon  von  Hindenburg  bombarded  the  Russian  lines 
hoping  to  destroy  the,iRussian  guns.  On  Friday,  the  26th,  his  guns 
boomed  all  day;  the  Russians  made  no  reply.  So  on  the  morning 
of  the  27th  he  built  bridges  again,  and  again  the  Russians  blew  them 
to  pieces.  On  the  28th  he  gave  the  order  for  retreat. 

He  realized  that  the  game  wasn't  worth  the  candle;  he  might 
easily  be  kept  fighting  on  the  Niemen  for  months,  while  the  main 
armies  of  the  Russians  were  crossing  Austria.  Von  Hindenburg 
conducted  the  retreat  with  a  skill  which  came  to  him  naturally 
from  his  knowledge  of  the  marshes. 

Rennenkampf  followed  him  closely,  keeping  up  persistent 
attacks  through  the  woods  and  marshes.  The  path  of  the  retreating 
army  lay  through  the  forest  of  Augustovo,  a  country  much  like  that 
around  the  Masurian  Lakes,  and  there  the  Germans  suffered  heavy 
losses.  Von  Hindenburg  managed,  however,  to  get  the  bulk  of  his 
forces  back  across  the  frontier  and  continued  his  retreat  to  the 
intrenchments  on  the  Masurian  Lakes. 


138  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  Germans  lost  60,000  men  in  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners, 
and  von  Hindenburg  handed  over  the  command  of  the  German 
armies  hi  East  Prussia  to  General  von  Schubert,  and  hastened 
south  to  direct  the  movement  to  relieve  the  Austrians  at  Cracow. 

But  quite  as  important  as  the  campaign  hi  East  Prussia  was 
the  struggle  hi  Galicia.  When  the  war  began  the  Germans  con- 
templated merely  defense  in  their  own  domain;  such  offense  as 
was  planned  was  left  to  the  Austrians  farther  south. 

Galicia  is  a  long,  level  country  lying  north  of  the  Carpathian 
Mountains,  and  in  this  country  Austria-Hungary  had  gathered 
together  a  force  of  hardly  less  than  one  million  men.  A  quarter  of 
these  lay  in  reserve  near  the  mountains;  the  remaining  three- 
quarters  was  divided  into  two  armies;  the  first,  the  northern  army, 
being  under  the  command  of  General  Dankl,  the  second  was  that 
of  von  Offenberg.  The  base  of  the  first  army  was  Przemysl;  that 
of  the  second  was  Lemberg. 

The  first  army,  it  was  planned,  was  to  advance  into  Russian 
territory  in  the  direction  of  Lublin.  The  second  army,  stationed 
southeast  of  the  first  army,  was  to  protect  it  from  any  Russians 
who  might  strike  hi  upon  the  south.  The  first  army,  therefore, 
contained  more  picked  material  than  the  second,  which  included 
many  troops  from  the  southern  parts  of  the  empire,  including  certain 
disaffected  contingents.  The  first  army  made  its  advance  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  entered  Russian  territory  on  the  llth  of  August. 
It  went  forward  with  very  little  loss  and  against  very  little  resist- 
ance. The  Russian  forces  which  were  against  it  were  inferior  hi 
number,  and  fell  back  towards  the  Bug.  The  Austrians  followed, 
turning  somewhat  toward  the  east,  when  their  advance  was  checked 
by  news  of  catastrophe  hi  their  rear.  On  the  14th  of  August  the 
Russian  army  under  General  Ruzsky  crossed  the  frontier,  and 
advanced  toward  the  Austrian  second  army. 

The  Russian  army  was  in  far  greater  strength  than  had  been 
expected,  and  when  its  advance  was  followed  by  the  appearance 
upon  the  right  flank  of  von  Offenberg's  command,  of  yet  another 
Russian  army,  under  Brussilov,  the  Austrian  se«ond  army  found 
itself  in  great  danger.  Ruzsky  advanced  steadily  from  August  14th 
uniil,  on  the  21st,  it  was  not  more  than  one  day's  advance  from 
the  outer  works  of  Lemberg,  and  the  third  Russian  army  under 
Brussilov  was  threatening  von  Offenberg's  right  flank. 


CAMPAIGN  IN  THE   EAST  139 

Von  Offenberg,  underestimating  the  strength  of  the  enemy, 
undertook  to  give  battle.  The  first  outpost  actions  were  successful 
for  the  Austrians,  and  helped  them  in  their  blunder.  On  the  24th 
of  August  the  two  Russian  armies  effected  a  junction,  and  their 
Austrian  opponents  found  themselves  threatened  with  disaster. 
An  endeavor  was  made  to  retreat,  but  the  retreat  turned  into  a 
rout.  On  the  28th  Tarnopol  was  captured  by  the  Russians,  and 
the  Austrian  army  found  itself  compelled  to  fall  back  upon  defense 
positions  to  the  south  and  east  of  Lemberg  itself. 

The  attack  of  the  Russian  armies  was  completely  successful. 
The  Austrian  army  was  driven  from  its  positions,  and  on  September 
4th  the  Austrians  evacuated  Lemberg  and  the  Russian  forces  took 
possession  of  the  town.  The  Austrians  fled.  The  population  wel- 
comed the  conquerors  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  An  immense 
quantity  of  stores  of  every  kind  were  captured  by  the  Russians 
together  with  at  least  100,000  prisoners.  There  was  no  looting, 
nor  any  kind  of  outrage.  The  Russian  policy  was  to  make  friends 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Galicia. 

But  there  was  no  halt  after  Lemberg.  Brussilov  divided  his 
army,  and  sent  his  left  wing  into  the  Carpathian  passes;  his  center 
and  right  moved  west  toward  Przemysl;  while  Ruzsky  moved 
northwest  to  reinforce  the  Russian  army  on  the  Bug.  Meanwhile 
the  position  of  Dankl's  army  was  perilous  in  the  extreme.  There 
were  two  possible  courses,  one  to  fall  back  and  join  the  remnants  of 
von  Offenberg's  army,  the  other  to  attack  at  once,  before  the  first 
Russian  army  could  be  reinforced,  and  if  victorious  to  turn  on 
Ruzsky. 

Dankl's  army  was  now  very  strong.  He  had  received  rein- 
forcements, not  only  from  Austria  but  from  Germany.  On  the 
4th  of  September  he  attacked  the  Russian  center;  his  attack  was  a 
failure,  although  he  outnumbered  the  Russians.  The  battle  con- 
tinued until  the  tenth. 

Everywhere  the  Austrians  were  beaten,  and  driven  off  in 
ignominious  retreat.  The  whole  Austrian  force  fled  southward  in 
great  disorder;  a  part  directed  its  flight  toward  Przemysl,  others 
still  farther  west  toward  Cracow.  Austria  had  been  completely 
defeated.  Poland  was  clear  of  the  enemy.  The  Russian  flag  flew 
over  Lemberg,  while  the  Russian  army  was  marching  toward  Cra- 
cow. The  Russian  star  was  in  the  ascendant. 


140  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

But  the  Austrian  armies  had  not  been  annihilated.  An  army 
of  nearly  a  Trillion  men  cannot  be  destroyed  in  so  short  a  time. 
The  Austrian  failure  was  due  hi  part  to  the  disaffection  of  some  of 
the  elements  of  the  army,  and  in  part  to  the  poor  Austrian  general- 
ship. They  had  underestimated  their  foe,  and  ventured  on  a  most 
perilous  plan  of  campaign. 

Russian  generalship  had  been  most  admirable,  and  the  Russian 
generals  were  men  of  ability  and  experience.  Brussilov  had  seen 
service  in  the  Turkish  War  of  1877.  Ruzsky  was  a  professor  in  the 
Russian  War  Academy.  In  the  Japanese  war  he  had  been  chief 
of  staff  to  General  Kaulbars,  the  commander  of  the  Second  Man- 
churian  army.  Associated  with  him  was  General  Radko  Dmitrieff, 
an  able  officer  with  a  most  interesting  career.  General  Dmitrieff 
was  born  in  Bulgaria,  when  it  was  a  Turkish  province.  He  grad- 
uated at  the  Military  School  at  Sofia,  and  afterwards  at  the  War 
Academy  at  Petrograd.  On  his  return  to  Bulgaria  he  commanded 
a  regiment  hi  the  Serbian-Bulgarian  war.  Later  he  became  mixed 
up  in  the  conspiracy  against  Prince  Alexander,  and  was  forced  to 
leave  Bulgaria.  For  ten  years  he  served  in  the  Russian  army, 
returning  to  Bulgaria  on  the  accession  of  Prince  Ferdinand.  Later 
on  he  became  Chief  of  the  General  Staff,  and  when  the  Balkan 
war  broke  out  he  commanded  one  of  the  Bulgarian  armies,  won 
several  important  victories,  and  became  a  popular  hero  of  the  war. 
Disgusted  with  the  political  squabbles  which  followed  the  war, 
he  returned  to  Russia  as  a  general  in  the  Russian  army.  With  men 
like  these  in  command,  the  Russian  Empire  was  well  served. 

After  the  decisive  defeat  of  the  Austrian  army  under  General 
Dankl,  certain  changes  were  made  in  the  Russian  High  Command. 
General  Ruzsky  was  made  commander  of  the  center,  which  was 
largely  reinforced.  General  Ivanov  was  put  in  command  of  the 
armies  operating  in  Galicia  with  Dmitrieff  and  Brussilov  as  his 
chief  lieutenants.  Brussilov's  business  was  to  seize  the  deep  passes 
in  the  Carpathians  and  to  threaten  Hungary.  Dmitrieff 's  duty  was 
to  press  the  Austrian  retreat,  and  capture  the  main  fortresses  of 
central  Galicia. 

There  are  two  great  fortresses  on  the  River  San,  Jaroslav  and 
Przemysl,  both  of  them  controlling  important  railroad  routes. 
Jaroslav  on  the  mam  line  from  Lemberg  to  Cracow,  Przemysl  with 
a  line  which  skirts  the  Carpathians,  and  connects  with  lines  going 


CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  EAST  141 

south  to  Hungary.  Jaroslav  was  fortified  by  a  strong  circle  of 
intrenchments  and  was  looked  to  by  Austria  for  stout  resistance. 
The  Austrians  were  disappointed,  for  Ivanov  captured  it  in  three 
days,  on  the  23d  of  September.  Dmitrieff  found  Przemysl  a  harder 
nut  to  crack.  It  held  out  for  many  months,  while  operations  of 
greater  importance  were  being  carried  on  by  the  Russian  armies. 
The  plans  of  the  Russian  generals  in  some  respects  were  not  unlike 
the  plan  previously  suggested  as  that  of  the  German  High  Command. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  war  they  had  no  desire  to  carry  on  a  power- 
ful offensive  against  Germany.  The  expedition  into  East  Prussia 
was  conducted  more  for  political  than  for  military  purposes.  The 
real  offensive  at  the  start  was  to  be  against  Austria.  The  Russian 
movements  were  cautious  at  first,  but  the  easy  capture  of  Lem- 
berg,  the  fall  of  Jaroslav,  and  the  demoralization  of  the  Austrian 
armies,  encouraged  more  daring  strategy.  With  the  Germans 
stopped  on  the  north,  little  aid  to  the  Austrians  could  come  from 
that  source.  The  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  was  eager  to  strike  a  great 
blow  before  the  winter  struck  in,  so  his  armies  swept  to  the  great 
Polish  city  of  Cracow.  The  campaign  against  Austria  also  had  a 
political  side. 

Russia  had  determined  upon  a  new  attitude  toward  Poland. 
On  August  15th  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  on  behalf  of  the  Czar, 
had  issued  a  proclamation  offering  self-government  to  Russian 
Poland.  Home  rule  for  Poland  had  long  been  a  favorite  plan  with 
the  Czar.  Now  he  promised,  not  only  to  give  Russian  Poland 
home  rule,  but  to  add  to  it  the  Polish  peoples  in  Austria  and  Ger- 
many. This  meant  that  Austria  and  Germany  would  have  to 
give  up  Galicia  on  the  one  hand,  and  Prussian  Poland  on  the 
other,  if  they  should  lose  the  war.  In  the  old  days  Poland  had 
been  one  of  the  greatest  kingdoms  in  Europe,  with  a  proud  nobility 
and  high  civilization.  She  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  great  Slav 
peoples  to  penetrate  the  west.  Later  she  had  protected  Europe 
against  Tartar  invasion,  but  internal  differences  had  weakened 
her,  and,  surrounded  by  enemies,  she  had  first  been  plundered,  and 
later  on  divided  between  Austria,  Russia  and  Prussia.  Never  had 
the  Poles  consented  to  this  destruction  of  their  independence. 
Galicia  had  constantly  struggled  against  Austria;  Prussian  Poland 
was  equally  disturbing  to  the  Prussian  peace,  and  Russia  was  only 
able  to  maintain  the  control  of  her  Polish  province  by  the  sword. 


142  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Of  the  three  the  Pole  was  probably  more  inclined  to  keep  on  friendly 
terms  with  Russia,  also  a  Slav  people.  The  policy  of  the  Czar 
encouraged  this  inclination  and  produced  disaffection  among  the 
Poles  in  Galicia  and  in  Posen.  Moreover,  it  gave  Russia  the 
sympathy  of  the  world  which  had  long  regarded  the  partition  of 
Poland  as  a  political  crime.  It  encouraged  the  Czecho-Slavs  and 
other  dissatisfied  portions  of  the  Austrian  Empire. 

The  results  were  seen  immediately  in  the  demoralization  of 
the  Austrian  armies  where  considerable  numbers  of  Czecho-Slovak 
troops  deserted  to  the  Russian  army,  and  later  in  the  loyalty  to 
Russia  of  the  Poles,  and  then*  refusal,  even  under  the  greatest 
German  pressure,  to  give  the  German  Empire  aid. 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SUPREMACY  ON  THE  SEA 

CAPTAIN  MAHAN'S  thesis  that  in  any  great  war  the 
nation  possessing  the  greater  sea  power  is  likely  to  win, 
was  splendidly  illustrated  during  the  World  War. 

The  great  English  fleets  proved  the  insuperable 
obstacle  to  the  ambitious  German  plans  of  world  dominion.  The 
millions  of  soldiers  landed  in  France  from  Great  Britain,  and  its 
provinces,  the  millions  of  Americans  transported  in  safety  across 
the  water,  and  the  enormous  quantities  of  supplies  put  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Allies  depended,  absolutely,  upon  the  Allied  control 
of  the  sea  routes  of  the  world.  With  a  superior  navy  a  German 
blockade  of  England  would  have  brought  her  to  terms  in  a  short 
period,  and  France,  left  to  fight  alone,  would  have  been  an  easy 
victim.  The  British  navy  saved  the  world. 

Germany  had  for  many  years  well  understood  the  necessity 
of  power  upon  the  sea.  When  the  war  broke  out  it  was  the  second 
greatest  of  the  sea  powers.  Its  ships  were  mostly  modern,  for  its 
navy  was  a  creation  of  the  past  fifteen  years,  and  its  development 
was  obviously  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  the  British  supremacy. 
The  father  of  this  new  navy  was  a  naval  officer  by  the  name  of 
von  Tirpitz,  who,  in  1897,  had  become  the  German  Naval  Minister. 
With  the  aid  of  the  Emperor  he  had  aroused  among  the  Germans  a 
great  enthusiasm  for  maritime  power,  and  had  built  up  a  navy  in 
fifteen  years,  which  was  second  only  to  the  English  navy. 

Von  Tirpitz  was  an  interesting  character.  In  appearance 
he  looked  like  an  old  sea-wolf  who  had  passed  his  life  on  the  wave, 
but  such  a  thought  would  be  a  mistake.  The  great  admiral's  work 
was  done  on  land;  he  was  an  organizer,  a  diplomatist,  and  a  poli- 
tician. He  created  nothing  new;  in  all  its  details  he  merely 
copied  the  English  fleet.  He  is  tall,  heavily  built,  with  a  great 
white  beard,  forked  in  the  middle.  He  is  a  man  of  much  dignity, 
with  a  smile  which  has  won  him  renown.  He  might  have  been 
Chancellor  of  the  Empire  but  he  preferred  to  devote  himself  to 


144  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  navy,  to  prove  that  the  future  of  Germany  is  on  the  seas. 
His  glories  are  the  Lusitania,  the  fleet  safely  anchored  at  Kiel, 
and  the  long  rows  of  innocent  victims  of  the  submarine. 

He  was  born  in  1850  at  Kustrion  on  the  Ildor,  when  the  German 
navy  was  only  a  little  group  of  worthless  boats.  In  1865  he  entered 
the  School  of  Cadets,  in  1869  he  was  gazetted  lieutenant,  in  1875 
he  was  lieutenant-commander  with  a  reputation  as  an  able 
organizer.  In  1891  he  was  appointed  Chief  of  Staff  at  Kiel.  This 
was  his  opportunity,  and  he  set  himself  at  the  task  of  creating 
and  protecting  the  submarine  division  of  the  navy.  As  time  went 
on  he  grew  in  importance.  In  1898  he  became  Assistant  Secretary 
of  State  at  the  Admiralty  in  Berlin.  Two  years  later  he  became 
vice-admiral.  His  admirers  recognized  his  powers,  and  he  was 
called  the  master.  In  1899  a  patent  of  nobility  was  conferred 
upon  him.  In  1902  he  gained  permission  to  build  13,000-ton  war 
ships,  and  the  following  year  he  was  made  admiral.  In  1907 
enormous  appropriations  were  made  at  his  desire  for  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  fleet.  In  1908  Emperor  William  conferred  on  him  the 
Order  of  the  Black  Eagle.  In  1914  the  Kiel  Canal  was  com- 
pleted under  his  direction,  and  he  informed  the  Emperor  that  the 
fleet  was  ready.  It  is  only  fair  to  add  that  in  all  his  plans  he  had 
the  active  support  of  his  Imperial  Master.  The  Kaiser,  too,  had 
dreamed  a  dream.  Von  Tirpitz  admired  the  English.  His 
children  had  been  brought  up  in  England,  as  was  also  his  wife. 
He  imitated  the  English,  but  on  the  day  of  the  declaration  of 
war  he  absolutely  forbade  his  family  to  talk  English,  and  he  made  a 
bonfire  of  his  fine  scientific  library  of  English  books.  The  Kaiser 
treated  Von  Tirpitz  as  his  friend,  asked  his  advice,  and  followed 
his  counsel.  His  son,  Sub-Lieutenant  Wolf  Von  Tirpitz,  studied 
at  Oxford,  and  is  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with  many  English 
gentlemen  of  importance.  He  was  on  board  the  Mainz,  which 
was  sunk  off  Helgoland  in  August,  1916.  In  full  uniform  he  swam 
for  twenty  minutes,  before  being  picked  up  by  one  of  the  boats  of 
the  cruiser  Liverpool.  He  was  a  lucky  prisoner  of  war.  The 
German  battleships  and  cruisers  which  represent  the  toil  of  von 
Tirpitz  for  more  than  half  a  century,  lay  hidden  away  in  the  shelter 
of  the  Kiel  Canal  during  the  war  to  be  ingloriously  surrendered 
at  its  end.  His  name  will  remain  linked  with  that  of  the  Lusitania. 

The  German  High  Sea  Fleet,  at  the  beginning  of  the  war, 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SUPREMACY          147 

consisted  of  forty-one  battleships,  seven  battle  cruisers,  nine 
armored  cruisers,  forty-nine  light  cruisers,  one  hundred  and  forty- 
five  destroyers,  eighty  torpedo  boats,  and  thirty-eight  submarines. 
Under  the  direction  of  Von  Tirpitz  the  navy  had  become  demo- 
cratic and  had  drawn  to  it  many  able  men  of  the  middle  class. 
Its  training  was  highly  specialized  and  the  officers  were  enthusi- 
asts in  their  profession.  The  navy  of  Austria-Hungary  had  also 
expanded  in  recent  years  under  the  inspiration  of  Admiral 
Montecuculi.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  fleet  comprised 
sixteen  battleships,  two  armored  and  twelve  light  cruisers,  eighteen 
destroyers,  eighty-five  torpedo  boats  and  eleven  submarines. 
The  Allies  were  much  more  powerful.  The  French  navy  had  in 
the  matter  of  invention  given  the  lead  to  the  world,  but  its  size 
had  not  kept  pace  with  its  quality.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war 
France  had  thirty-one  battleships,  twenty-four  armored  cruisers, 
eight  light  cruisers,  eighty-seven  destroyers,  one  hundred  and 
fifty-three  torpedo  boats  and  seventy-six  submarines.  Russia, 
after  the  war  with  Japan,  had  begun  the  creation  of  a  powerful 
battle  fleet,  which  had  not  been  completed  when  war  was  declared. 
At  that  time  she  had  on  the  Baltic  four  dreadnaughts,  ten  armored 
cruisers,  two  light  cruisers,  eighty  destroyers  and  twenty-four  sub- 
marines, and  a  fleet  of  about  half  the  strength  in  the  Black  Sea. 

The  English  fleet  had  reached  a  point  of  efficiency  which 
was  unprecedented  in  its  history.  The  progress  of  the  German  sea 
power  had  stimulated  the  spirit  of  the  fleet,  and  led  to  a  steady 
advance  in  training  and  equipment.  The  development  of  arma- 
ment, and  of  battleship  designing,  the  improvement  in  gunnery 
practice,  the  revision  of  the  rate  of  pay,  the  opening  up  of  careers 
from  the  lower  deck,  and  the  provision  of  a  naval  air  service  are 
landmarks  in  the  advance.  In  the  navy  estimates  of  March,  1914, 
Parliament  sanctioned  over  £51,000,000  for  a  naval  defense,  the 
largest  appropriation  for  the  purpose  ever  made.  The  home  fleet 
was  arranged  in  three  units,  the  first  fleet  was  divided  into  four 
battle  squadrons,  together  with  the  flagship  of  the  commander-in- 
chief.  The  first  squadron  was  made  up  of  eight  battleships,  the 
second  squadron  contained  eight,  the  third  eight  and  the  fourth 
four.  Attached  to  each  fleet  was  a  battle  cruiser  squadron,  con- 
sisting of  four  ships  in  the  first  fleet,  four  in  the  second,  four  in  the 
third  and  five  in  the  fourth.  The  fourth  also  contained  a  light 


148  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

cruiser  squadron,  a  squadron  of  six  gunboats  for  mine  sweeping, 
and  four  flotillas  of  destroyers,  each  with  a  flotilla  cruiser  attached. 
The  second  fleet  was  composed  of  two  battle  squadrons,  the  first 
containing  eight  pre-dreadnaughts,  and  the  second  six.  Attached 
to  this  fleet  were  also  two  cruiser  squadrons,  a  mine  layer  squadron  of 
seven  vessels,  four  patrol  flotillas,  consisting  of  destroyers  and 
torpedo  boats,  and  seven  flotillas  of  submarines.  A  third  fleet 
contained  two  battle  squadrons,  mainly  composed  of  old  ships, 
with  six  cruiser  squadrons.  The  English  strength,  outside  home 
waters,  consisted  of  the  Mediterranean  fleet,  containing  three 
battle  cruisers,  four  armored  cruisers,  four  ordinary  cruisers  and 
a  flotilla  of  seventeen  destroyers,  together  with  submarines  and 
torpedo  boats.  In  eastern  waters  there  were  a  battleship,  two 
cruisers,  and  four  sloops.  In  the  China  squadron  there  were  one 
battleship,  two  armored  cruisers,  two  ordinary  cruisers,  and  a 
number  of  gunboats,  destroyers,  submarines,  and  torpedo  boats. 
In  New  Zealand  there  were  four  cruisers.  The  Australian  fleet 
contained  a  battle  cruiser,  three  ordinary  cruisers,  three  destroyers 
and  two  submarines.  Other  cruisers  and  gunboats  were  stationed 
at  the  Cape,  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  and  along  the  western  Atlan- 
tic. At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  two  destroyers  were  purchased 
from  Chile,  and  two  Turkish  battleships,  building  in  England, 
were  commandeered  by  the  government. 

It  is  evident  that  the  union  of  France  and  Britain  made  the 
Allies  easily  superior  hi  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  so  that  France 
was  able  to  transport  her  African  troops  in  safety,  and  the  British 
commerce  with  India  and  the  East  could  safely  continue.  The 
main  field  of  the  naval  war,  therefore,  was  the  North  Sea  and  the 
Baltic,  where  Germany  had  all  her  fleet,  except  a  few  naval 
raiders.  The  entrance  to  the  Baltic  was  closed  to  the  enemy  by 
Denmark,  which,  as  a  neutral,  was  bound  to  prevent  an  enemy 
fleet  from  passing.  Germany,  however,  by  means  of  the  Kiel 
Canal,  could  permit  the  largest  battle  fleet  to  pass  from  the  Baltic 
to  the  North  Sea.  The  German  High  Sea  Fleet  was  weaker  than 
the  British  home  fleet  by  more  than  forty  per  cent,  and  the  German 
policy,  therefore,  was  to  avoid  a  battle,  until,  through  mine  layers 
and  submarines,  the  British  power  should  have  been  sufficiently 
weakened.  The  form  of  the  German  coast  made  this  plan  easily 
possible.  The  various  bays  and  river  mouths  provided  safe  retreat 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SUPREMACY  149 

for  the  German  ships,  and  the  German  fleet  were  made  secure  by 
the  fortifications  along  the  coast.  On  July  the  29th,  1914,  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  annual  maneuvers,  instead  of  being  demo- 
bilized as  would  have  been  usual,  the  Grand  Fleet  of  Great  Britain 
sailed  from  Portland  along  the  coast  into  the  mists,  and  from 
that  moment  dominated  the  whole  course  of  the  war. 

From  the  4th  of  August,  the  date  of  the  declaration  of  war, 
the  oceans  of  the  world  were  practically  rid  of  enemy  war  ships, 
and  were  closed  to  enemy  mercantile  marine.  Although  diplo- 
macy had  not  yet  failed,  the  masters  of  the  English  navy  were  not 
caught  napping.  The  credit  for  this  readiness  has  been  given  to 
Mr.  Winston  Churchill,  one  of  the  first  Lords  of  the  Admiralty, 
who  had  divined  the  coming  danger.  When  the  grand  fleet  sailed 
it  seemed  to  disappear  from  English  view.  Occasionally  some 
dweller  along  the  coast  might  see  an  occasional  cruiser  or  destroyer 
sweeping  by  in  the  distance,  but  the  great  battleships  had  gone. 
Somewhere,  in  some  hidden  harbor,  lay  the  vigilant  fleets  of 
England. 

Sea  fighting  had  changed  since  the  days  of  Admiral  Nelson. 
The  old  wooden  ship  belonged  to  a  past  generation.  The  guns 
of  a  battleship  would  have  sunk  the  Spanish  Armada  with  one 
broadside.  In  this  modern  day  the  battleship  was  protected  by 
aircraft,  which  dropped  bombs  from  the  clouds.  Unseen  sub- 
marines circled  about  her.  Beneath  her  might  be  mines,  which 
could  destroy  her  at  the  slightest  touch.  Everything  had  changed 
but  the  daring  of  the  English  sailor. 

In  command  of  the  Home  fleet  was  Admiral  Sir  John  Jellicoe. 
He  had  had  a  distinguished  career.  Beginning  as  a  lieutenant 
in  the  Egyptian  War  of  1882,  he  had  become  a  commander  in 
1891.  In  1897  he  became  a  captain,  and  served  in  China,  com- 
manding the  Naval  Brigade  in  the  Pekin  Expedition  of  1900, 
where  he  was  severely  wounded.  Later  he  became  naval  assistant 
to  the  Controller  of  the  Navy,  Director  of  Naval  Ordnance  and 
Torpedoes,  Rear-Admiral  in  the  United  Fleet,  Lord  Commissioner 
of  the  Admiralty  and  Controller  of  the  Navy,  Vice-Admiral  com- 
manding the  Atlantic  fleet,  Vice-Admiral  commanding  the  second 
division  of  the  Home  fleet,  and  second  Sea  Lord  of  the  Admiralty. 
He  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  naval  maneuvers  of  1913, 
and  was  one  of  the  officers  mainly  responsible  for  the  development 


150  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

of  the  modern  English  navy.  He  had  the  confidence  of  his  col- 
leagues, and  a  peculiar  popularity  among  the  British  seamen. 

On  the  day  after  the  declaration  of  war,  the  first  shots  were 
fired.  German  mine  layers,  it  is  now  believed,  in  disguise,  had 
been  dropping  mines  during  the  preceding  week  over  a  wide  area 
of  the  North  Sea.  On  the  5th  of  August  the  mine  layer,  Koenigen 
Luise,  was  sunk  by  the  destroyer  Lance,  and  on  August  6th  the 
British  light  cruiser  Amphion  struck  one  of  the  mines  laid  by  the 
Koenigen  Luise  and  was  sunk  with  great  loss  of  life.  On  August 
9th,  German  submarines  attacked  a  cruiser  squadron  without 
causing  any  damage,  and  one  submarine  was  sunk. 

It  was  in  the  Mediterranean,  however,  that  the  greatest 
interest  was  felt  during  the  first  week  of  the  war.  Two  German 
war  ships,  the  Goeben  and  the  Breslau,  were  off  the  Algerian  coast 
when  war  broke  out.  It  is  probable  that  when  these  ships  received 
their  sailing  orders,  Germany  depended  on  the  assistance  of  Italy, 
and  had  sent  these  ships  to  its  assistance.  They  were  admirably 
suited  for  commerce  destroyers.  They  began  by  bombarding 
the  Algerian  coast  towns  of  Bona  and  Phillipe,  doing  little  damage. 
They  then  turned  toward  the  coast  of  Gibraltar,  but  found  before 
them  the  British  fleet.  Eluding  the  British  they  next  appeared 
at  Messina.  There  the  captains  and  officers  made  their  wills  and 
deposited  then*  valuables,  including  signed  portraits  of  the  Kaiser, 
with  the  German  consul.  The  decks  were  cleared  for  action, 
and  with  the  bands  playing  they  sailed  out  under  a  blood-red 
sunset. 

However,  they  seem  to  have  been  intent  only  on  escape,  and 
they  went  at  full  speed  eastward  toward  the  Dardanelles,  meeting 
in  their  way  only  with  the  British  cruiser  Gloucester,  which, 
though  much  inferior  in  size,  attacked  them  boldly  but  was  unable 
to  prevent  their  escape.  On  entering  Constantinople  they  were 
reported  as  being  sold  to  the  Turkish  Government,  the  Turks 
thus  beginning  the  line  of  conduct  which  was  ultimately  to  bring 
them  into  the  war. 

Picturesque  as  this  incident  was  it  was  of  no  importance  as 
compared  with  the  great  British  blockade  of  Germany  which  began 
on  the  4th  of  August.  German  merchantmen  in  every  country 
of  the  empire  were  seized,  and  hundreds  of  ships  were  captured 
on  the  high  seas.  Those  who  escaped  to  neutral  ports  were  at 


TORPEDOING  OF  THE  BRITISH  BATTLESHIP,   "ABOUKIR" 

In  the  first  few  weeks  of  the  war,  when  the  navies  of  the  world  were 
still  at  open  warfare,  during  a  sharp  engagement  off  the  Hook  of  Holland 
in  the  North  Sea  the  British  warships  "Aboukir",  "Cressy"  and  "Hogue" 
fell  victims  to  the  enemy.  This  sketch  shows  the  "Aboukir  "  after  a  German 
torpedo  had  found  its  mark  in  her  hull. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SUPREMACY          153 

once  interned.  In  a  week  German  commerce  had  ceased  to  exist. 
A  few  German  cruisers  were  still  at  large  but  it  was  not  long  before 
they  had  been  captured,  or  driven  into  neutral  ports.  Among  the 
most  picturesque  of  these  raiders  were  the  Emden  and  the  Koenigs- 
berg.  The  Emden,  in  particular,  interested  the  world  with  her 
romantic  adventures.  Her  story  is  best  told  in  the  words  of  Lieu- 
tenant-Captain von  Miicke,  and  Lieutenant  Gyssing,  whose  return 
to  Germany  with  forty-four  men,  four  officers  and  one  surgeon, 
after  the  destruction  of  the  ship,  was  a  veritable  Odyssey. 

"We  on  the  Emden  had  no  idea  where  we  were  going,  as,  on 
August  11,  1914,  we  separated  from  the  cruiser  squadron,  escorted 
only  by  the  coaler  Markomannia.  Under  way  the  Emden  picked 
up  three  officers  from  German  steamers.  That  was  a  piece  of 
luck,  for  afterward  we  needed  many  officers  for  the  capturing  and 
smking  of  steamers,  or  manning  them  when  we  took  them  with 
us.  On  September  10th,  the  first  boat  came  in  sight.  We  stopped 
her;  she  proved  to  be  a  Greek  tramp  returning  from  England. 
On  the  next  day  we  met  the  Indus,  bound  for  Bombay,  all  fitted 
up  as  a  troop  transport,  but  still  without  troops.  That  was  the 
first  one  we  sunk.  The  crew  we  took  aboard  the  Markomannia. 
Then  we  sank  the  Lovat,  a  troop  transport  ship,  and  took  the 
Kambinga  along  with  us.  One  gets  used  quickly  to  new  forms  of 
activity.  After  a  few  days,  capturing  ships  became  a  habit.  Of 
the  twenty-three  which  we  captured  most  of  them  stopped  after 
our  first  signal;  when  they  didn't,  we  fired  a  blank  shot.  Then 
they  all  stopped.  Only  one,  the  Clan  Matteson,  waited  for  a 
real  shot  across  the  bow  before  giving  up  its  many  automobiles 
and  locomotives  to  the  seas. 

"The  officers  were  mostly  very  polite,  and  let  down  rope  ladders 
for  us.  After  a  few  hours  they  would  be  on  board  with  us.  We 
ourselves  never  set  foot  hi  their  cabins,  nor  took  charge  of  them. 
The  officers  often  acted  on  their  own  initiative,  and  signaled  to 
us  the  nature  of  their  cargo.  Then  the  commandant  decided  as 
to  whether  to  sink  the  ship  or  take  it  with  us.  Of  the  cargo  we 
always  took  every  thing  we  could  use,  particularly  provisions. 
Many  of  the  English  officers  and  sailors  made  good  use  of  the 
hours  of  transfer  to  drink  up  the  supply  of  whisky  instead  of  sacri- 
ficing it  to  the  waves.  I  heard  that  one  captain  was  lying  in  tears 
at  the  enforced  separation  from  his  beloved  ship,  but  on  investiga- 


154  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

tion  found  that  he  was  merely  dead  drunk.  The  captain  on  one 
ship  once  called  out  cheerily  'Thank  God,  I've  been  captured.' 
He  had  received  expense  money  for  the  trip  to  Australia,  and  was 
now  saved  half  the  journey." 

Parenthetically  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  Emden's  cap- 
tain, Karl  von  Mueller,  conducted  himself  at  all  tunes  with 
chivalrous  bravery,  according  to  the  accounts  of  the  English  them- 
selves, who  in  then*  reports  say  of  him,  admiringly,  "He  played 
the  game."  Captain  von  Miicke's  account  continues: 

"We  had  mostly  quiet  weather,  so  that  communication  with 
captured  ships  was  easy.  They  were  mostly  dynamited,  or  else 
shot  close  to  the  water  line.  At  Calcutta  we  made  one  of  our 
richest  hauls,  the  Diplomat,  chock  full  of  tea,  we  sunk  $2,500,000 
worth.  On  the  same  day  the  Trabbotch,  too,  which  steered  right 
straight  towards  us,  was  captured.  By  now  we  wanted  to  beat 
it  out  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  because  we  had  learned  from  the  papers 
that  the  Emden  was  being  keenly  searched  for.  By  Rangoon  we 
encountered  a  Norwegian  tramp,  which,  for  a  cash  consideration, 
took  over  all  the  rest  of  our  prisoners  of  war. 

"On  September  23d  we  reached  Madras,  and  steered  straight 
for  the  harbor.  We  stopped  still  3,000  yards  before  the  city. 
Then  we  shot  up  the  oil  tanks;  three  or  four  of  them  burned  up 
and  illuminated  the  city.  Two  days  later  we  navigated  around 
Ceylon,  and  could  see  the  lights  of  Colombo.  On  the  same  evening 
we  gathered  in  two  more  steamers,  the  King  Lund,  and  Tywerse. 
The  next  evening  we  got  the  Burresk,  a  nice  steamer  with  500  tons 
of  nice  Cardiff  coal.  Then  followed  hi  order,  the  Ryberia,  Foyle, 
Grand  Ponrabbel,  Benmore,  Troiens,  Exfort,  Graycefale,  Sankt 
Eckbert,  Chilkana.  Most  of  them  were  sunk.  The  coal  ships 
were  kept.  All  this  happened  before  October  20th.  Then  we 
sailed  southward  to  Deogazia,  southwest  of  Colombo." 

The  captain  then  tells  with  much  gusto  a  story  of  a  visit  paid 
to  the  Emden  by  some  English  farmers,  at  Deogazia,  who  were 
entertained  royally  by  the  Emden  officers.  They  knew  nothing 
about  the  war,  and  the  Emden  officers  told  them  nothing.  His 
narrative  continues: 

'Now  we  went  toward  Miniko,  where  we  sank  two  ships  more. 
On  the  next  day  we  found  three  steamers  to  the  north,  one  of  them 
with  much  desired  Cardiff  coal.  From  English  papers  on  the 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SUPREMACY          155 

captured  ships  we  learned  that  we  were  being  hotly  pursued. 
One  night  we  started  for  Penang.  On  October  28th  we  raised  a 
very  practicable  fourth  smokestack  (for  disguise).  The  harbor  of 
Penang  lies  in  a  channel  difficult  of  access.  There  was  nothing 
doing  by  night.  We  had  to  do  it  at  daybreak.  At  high  speed, 
without  smoke,  with  lights  out,  we  steered  into  the  mouth  of  the 
channel.  A  torpedo  boat  on  guard  slept  well.  We  steamed  past 
its  small  light.  Inside  lay  a  dark  silhouette.  That  must  be  a 
warship.  We  recognized  the  silhouette  dead  sure.  That  was  the 
Russian  cruiser  Jemtchud.  There  it  lay,  there  it  slept  like  a  rat, 
no  watch  to  be  seen.  They  made  it  easy  for  us.  Because  of  the 
narrowness  of  the  harbor  we  had  to  keep  close;  we  fired  the  first 
torpedo  at  four  hundred  yards. 

"Then,  to  be  sure,  things  livened  up  a  bit  on  the  sleeping 
warship.  At  the  same  time  we  took  the  crew  quarters  under  fire 
five  shells  at  a  time.  There  was  a  flash  of  flame  on  board,  then 
a  kind  of  burning  aureole.  After  the  fourth  shell  the  flame  burned 
high.  The  first  torpedo  had  struck  the  ship  too  deep,  because  we 
were  too  close  to  it.  A  second  torpedo  which  we  fired  off  from  the 
other  side  didn't  make  the  same  mistake.  After  twenty  seconds 
there  was  absolutely  not  a  trace  of  the  ship  to  be  seen. 

"But  now  another  ship  which  we  couldn't  see  was  firing.  That 
was  the  French  D'lvrebreville,  toward  which  we  now  turned  at 
once.  A  few  minutes  later  an  incoming  torpedo  destroyer  was 
reported.  It  proved  to  be  the  French  torpedo  boat  Mousquet. 
It  came  straight  toward  us.  That's  always  remained  a  mystery 
to  me,  for  it  must  have  heard  the  shooting.  An  officer  whom  we 
fished  up  afterward  explained  to  me  that  they  had  only  recognized 
we  were  a  German  warship  when  they  were  quite  close  to  us. 
The  Frenchman  behaved  well,  accepted  battle  and  fought  on, 
but  was  polished  off  by  us  with  three  broadsides.  The  whole 
fight  with  those  ships  lasted  half  an  hour.  The  commander  of  the 
torpedo  boat  lost  both  legs  by  the  first  broadside.  When  he  saw 
that  part  of  his  crew  were  leaping  overboard  he  cried  out  'Tie 
me  fast.  I  will  not  survive  after  seeing  Frenchmen  desert  their 
ship.'  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  went  down  with  his  ship,  as  a  brave 
captain,  lashed  fast  to  the  mast.  That  was  my  only  sea-fight. 

"On  November  9th  I  left  the  Emden  in  order  to  destroy  the 
wireless  plant  on  the  Cocos  Island.  I  had  fifty  men,  four  machine 


156  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

guns  and  about  thirty  rifles.  Just  as  we  were  about  to  destroy 
the  apparatus  it  reported  'Careful.  Emden  near/  The  work  of 
destruction  went  smoothly.  Presently  the  Emden  signaled  to  us 
'Hurry  up.'  I  pack  up,  but  simultaneously  wails  the  Emden's 
siren.  I  hurry  up  to  the  bridge,  see  the  flag  'Anna'  go  up.  That 
means  weigh  anchor.  We  ran  like  mad  into  our  boat,  but  already 
the  Emden's  pennant  goes  up,  the  battle  flag  is  raised,  they  fire 
from  starboard.  The  enemy  is  concealed  by  the  island,  and  there- 
fore not  to  be  seen,  but  I  see  the  shell  strike  the  water.  To  follow 
and  catch  the  Emden  is  out  of  question.  She  is  going  twenty 
knots,  I  only  four  with  my  steam  pinnace.  Therefore  I  turn  back 
to  land,  raise  the  flag,  declare  German  laws  of  war  in  force,  seize 
all  arms,  set  out  my  machine  guns  on  shore  in  order  to  guard  against 
a  hostile  landing.  Then  I  run  again  in  order  to  observe  the  fight." 

The  cable  operator  at  Cocos  Island  gives  the  following  account 
of  what  happened  from  this  point.  After  describing  the  sudden 
flight  of  the  Emden,  he  goes  on: 

"Looking  to  the  eastward  we  could  see  the  reason  for  this 
sudden  departure,  for  a  warship,  which  we  afterwards  learned  was 
the  Australian  cruiser  Sydney,  was  coming  up  at  full  speed  hi 
pursuit.  The  Emden  did  not  wait  to  discuss  matters,  but,  firing 
her  first  shot  at  a  range  of  about  3,700  yards,  steamed  north  as 
hard  as  she  could  go.  At  first  the  firing  of  the  Emden  seemed 
excellent,  while  that  of  the  Sydney  was  somewhat  erratic.  This, 
as  I  afterward  learned,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Australian 
cruiser's  range  finder  was  put  out  of  action  by  one  of  the  only 
two  shots  the  Germans  got  home.  However,  the  British  gunners 
soon  overcame  any  difficulties  that  this  may  have  caused,  and 
settled  down  to  their  work,  so  that  before  long  two  of  the  Emden's 
funnels  had  been  shot  away.  She  also  lost  one  of  her  masts  quite 
early  in  the  fight.  Both  blazing  away  with  their  big  guns  the  two 
cruisers  disappeared  below  the  horizon,  the  Emden  being  on  fire. 

"Early  the  next  morning,  Tuesday,  November  10th,  we 
saw  the  Sydney  returning,  and  at  8.45  A.  M.  she  anchored  off  the 
island.  From  various  members  of  the  crew  I  gathered  some  details 
of  the  running  fight  with  the  Emden.  The  Sydney,  having  an 
advantage  in  speed,  was  able  to  keep  out  of  range  of  the  Emden's 
guns,  and  to  bombard  with  her  own  heavier  metal.  The  engage- 
ment lasted  eighty  minutes,  the  Emden  finally  running  ashore 


THE   STRUGGLE  FOR  SUPREMACY  157 

on  North  Keeling  Island,  and  becoming  an  utter  wreck.  Only 
two  German  shots  proved  effective,  one  of  these  failed  to  explode, 
but  smashed  the  main  range  finder  and  killed  one  man,  the  other 
killed  three  men  and  wounded  fourteen. 

"Each  of  the  cruisers  attempted  to  torpedo  the  other,  but 
both  were  unsuccessful,  and  the  duel  proved  a  contest  hi  hard 
pounding  at  long  range.  The  Sydney's  speed  during  the  fighting 
was  twenty-six  knots,  and  the  Emden's  twenty-four  knots.  The 
British  ship's  superiority  of  two  knots  enabled  her  to  choose  the 
range  at  which  the  battle  should  be  fought  and  to  make  the  most 
of  her  superior  guns.  Finally,  with  a  number  of  wounded  prisoners 
on  board,  the  Sydney  left  here  yesterday,  and  our  few  hours  of 
war  excitement  were  over." 

Captain  Miicke's  return  home  from  the  Cocos  Island  was 
filled  with  the  most  extraordinary  adventures,  and  when  he  finally 
arrived  in  country  controlled  by  his  Allies  he  was  greeted  as  a  hero. 

While  the  story  of  the  Emden  especially  interested  the  world, 
the  Koenigsberg  also  caused  much  trouble  to  English  commerce. 
Her  chief  exploit  occurred  on  the  20th  of  September,  when  she 
caught  the  British  cruiser  Pegasus  in  Zanzibar  harbor  undergoing 
repairs.  The  Pegasus  had  no  chance,  and  was  destroyed  by  the 
Koenigsberg's  long-range  fire.  Nothing  much  was  heard  later 
of  the  Koenigsberg,  which  was  finally  destroyed  by  an  English 
cruiser,  July  11,  1915. 

The  exploits  of  these  two  German  commerce  raiders  attracted 
general  attention,  because  they  were  the  exceptions  to  the  rule. 
The  British,  on  the  other  hand,  were  able  to  capture  such  German 
merchantmen  as  ventured  on  the  sea  without  great  difficulty,  and 
as  they  did  not  destroy  their  capture,  but  brought  them  before 
prize  courts,  the  incidents  attracted  no  great  attention.  The 
Kaiser  Wilhelm  der  Grosse,  which  had  been  fitted  up  as  a  com- 
merce destroyer  by  the  Germans  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  as 
was  the  Spreewald  of  the  Hamburg-American  Line,  and  the  Cap 
Trafalgar,  were  caught  and  sunk  during  the  month  of  September. 
On  the  whole,  English  foreign  trade  was  iiiiimpaired. 

But  though  the  German  fleet  had  been  bottled  up  in  her 
harbors,  Germany  was  not  yet  impotent.  There  remained  the 
submarine. 

Up  to   1905    Germany  had   not  a  single  submarine.      The 


158  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

first  German  submarine  was  launched  on  August  30,  1905.  Even 
then  it  was  considered  merely  an  experiment.  In  February,  1907, 
it  was  added  to  the  register  of  the  fleet.  On  January  1,  1901,  there 
were  only  four  nations  that  possessed  submarines,  France,  with 
fourteen;  the  United  States,  with  eight ;  England,  with  six,  of  which 
not  one  was  completed,  and  finally  Italy,  with  two.  In  1910, 
Germany  appropriated  18,750,000  marks  for  submarines,  and 
in  1913,  25,000,000  marks.  On  January  1,  1914,  the  total  number 
of  submarines  of  all  nations  was  approximately  four  hundred. 

Early  in  the  war  the  submarine  became  a  grave  menace  to 
the  English  navy  and  to  English  commerce.  On  the  5th  of  Septem- 
ber the  Pathfinder,  a  light  cruiser,  was  torpedoed  and  sunk  with 
great  loss  of  life.  On  September  22d,  three  cruisers,  the  Cressy, 
Hogue,  and  Aboukir  were  engaged  in  patrolling  the  coast  of  Holland. 
A  great  storm  had  been  raging  and  the  cruisers  were  not  protected 
by  the  usual  screen  of  destroyers.  At  half -past  six  in  the  morning 
the  seas  had  fallen  and  the  cruisers  proceeded  to  then*  posts.  The 
report  of  Commander  Nicholson,  of  the  Cressy,  of  what  followed 
gives  a  good  idea  of  the  effectiveness  of  the  submarine. 

"The  Aboukir,"  says  this  report,  "was  struck  at  about  6.25 
A.  M.  on  the  starboard  beam.  The  Hogue  and  Cressy  closed,  and 
took  up  a  position,  the  Hogue  ahead  of  the  Aboukir,  and  the  Cressy 
about  four  hundred  yards  on  her  port  beam.  As  soon  as  it  was  seen 
that  the  Aboukir  was  in  danger  of  sinking,  all  the  boats  were  sent 
away  from  the  Cressy,  and  a  picket  boat  was  hoisted  out  without 
steam  up.  When  cutters  full  of  the  Aboukir's  men  were  returning 
to  the  Cressy,  the  Hogue  was  struck,  apparently  under  the  aft  9.2 
magazine,  as  a  very  heavy  explosion  took  place  immediately. 
Almost  directly  after  the  Hogue  was  hit  we  observed  a  periscope 
on  our  port  bow  about  three  hundred  yards  off.  Fire  was  immedi- 
ately opened,  and  the  engines  were  put  full  speed  ahead  with  the 
intention  of  running  her  down.  .  .  . 

"Captain  Johnson  then  maneuvered  the  ship  so  as  to  render 
assistance  to  the  crews  of  the  Hogue  and  Aboukir.  About  five 
minutes  later  another  periscope  was  seen  on  our  starboard  quarter, 
and  fire  was  opened.  The  track  of  the  torpedo  she  fired  at  a  range 
of  from  500  to  600  yards  was  plainly  visible,  and  it  struck  us  on 
the  starboard  side  just  before  the  after  bridge.  The  ship  listed 
about  ten  degrees  to  the  starboard  and  remained  steady. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SUPREMACY          159 

time  was  7.15  A.  M.  All  the  water-tight  doors,  dead  lights  and 
scuttles  had  been  securely  closed  before  the  torpedoes  left  the  ship. 
All  mess  stools  and  table  shores  and  all  available  timber  below  and 
on  deck  had  been  previously  got  up  and  thrown  overside  for  the 
saving  of  life.  A  second  torpedo  fired  by  the  same  submarine 
missed  and  passed  about  ten  feet  astern. 

"About  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  the  first  torpedo  had  hit, 
a  third  torpedo  fired  from  the  submarine  just  before  the  star- 
board beam,  hit  us  under  the  No.  5  boiler  room.  The  time  was 
7.30  A.  M.  The  ship  then  began  to  heel  rapidly,  and  finally  turned 
keel  up  remaining  so  for  about  twenty  minutes  before  she  finally 
sank.  It  is  possible  that  the  same  submarine  fired  all  three  tor- 
pedoes at  the  Cressy."  i 

Of  the  total  crews  of  1,459  officers  and  men  only  779  were 
saved.  The  survivors  believed  that  they  had  seen  at  least  three 
submarines,  but  the  German  official  account  mentions  only  one, 
the  U-9,  under  Captain-Lieutenant  Otto  Weddigen  whose  account 
of  this  battle  confirms  the  report  of  Commander  Nicholson.  Refer- 
ring to  the  reports  that  a  flotilla  of  German  submarines  had  attacked 
the  cruisers,  he  says: 

"These  reports  were  absolutely  untrue.  U-9  was  the  only 
submarine  on  deck."  He  adds:  "I  reached  the  home  port  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  23d  and  on  the  24th  went  to  Wilhelmshaven  to 
find  that  news  of  my  effort  had  become  public.  My  wife,  dry- 
eyed  when  I  went  away,  met  me  with  tears.  Then  I  learned  that 
my  little  vessel  and  her  brave  crew  had  won  the  plaudit  of  the 
Kaiser  who  conferred  upon  each  of  my  co-workers  the  Iron  Cross 
of  the  second  class  and  upon  me  the  Iron  Crosses  of  the  first  and 
second  classes." 

Weddigen  was  the  hero  of  the  hour  in  Germany.  He  had  with 
him  twenty-five  men.  He  seems  to  have  acted  with  courage  and 
skill,  but  it  is  also  evident  that  the  English  staff  work  was  to  blame. 
Three  such  vessels  should  never  have  been  sent  out  without  a 
screen  of  destroyers,  nor  should  the  Hogue  and  the  Cressy  have 
gone  to  the  rescue  of  the  Aboukir.  A  few  days  after  the  disaster 
the  English  Admiralty  issued  the  following  statement: 

The  sinking  of  the  Aboukir  was  of  course  an  ordinary  hazard  of 
patrolling  duty.  The  Hogne  and  Cressy,  however,  were  sunk  because 
they  proceeded  to  the  assistance  of  their  consort,  and  remained  with 


160  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

engines  stopped,  endeavoring  to  save  life,  thus  presenting  an  easy  target 
to  further  submarine  attacks.  The  natural  promptings  of  humanity  have 
in  this  case  led  to  heavy  losses,  which  would  have  been  avoided  by  a 
strict  adhesion  to  military  consideration.  Modern  naval  war  is  pre- 
senting us  with  so  many  new  and  strange  situations  that  an  error  of 
judgment  of  this  character  is  pardonable.  But  it  has  become  necessary 
to  point  out  for  the  future  guidance  of  His  Majesty's  ships  that  the  con- 
ditions which  prevail  when  one  vessel  of  a  squadron  is  injured  in  the  mine 
field,  or  is  exposed  to  submarine  attack,  are  analogous  to  those  which 
occur  in  action,  and  that  the  rule  of  leaving  ships  to  their  own  resources 
is  applicable,  so  far,  at  any  rate,  as  large  vessels  are  concerned. 

On  the  28th  of  August  occurred  the  first  important  naval 
action  of  the  war,  the  battle  of  Helgoland.  From  the  9th  of  August 
German  cruisers  had  shown  activity  in  the  seas  around  Helgoland 
and  had  sunk  a  number  of  British  trawlers.  The  English  sub- 
marines, E-6  and  E-8,  and  the  light  cruiser  Fearless,  had  patrolled 
the  seas,  and  on  the  21st  of  August  the  Fearless  had  come  under 
the  enemy's  shell  fire.  On  August  26th  the  submarine  flotilla, 
under  Commodore  Keyes,  sailed  from  Harwich  for  the  Bight  of 
Helgoland,  and  all  the  next  day  the  Lurcher  and  the  Firedrake, 
destroyers,  scouted  for  submarines.  On  that  same  day  sailed  the 
first  and  third  destroyer  flotillas,  the  battle  cruiser  squadron, 
first  light  cruiser  squadron,  and  the  seventh  cruiser  squadron, 
having  a  rendezvous  at  this  point  on  the  morning  of  the  28th. 

The  morning  was  beautiful  and  clear,  so  that  the  submarines 
could  be  easily  seen.  Close  to  Helgoland  were  Commodore  Keyes' 
eight  submarines,  and  his  two  small  destroyers.  Approaching 
rapidly  from  the  northwest  were  Commodore  Tyrwhitt's  two 
destroyer  flotillas,  a  little  to  the  east  was  Commodore  Goodenough's 
first  light  cruiser  squadron.  Behind  this  squadron  were  Sir  David 
Beatty's  battle  cruisers  with  four  destroyers.  To  the  south  and 
west  of  Helgoland  lay  Admiral  Christian's  seventh  cruiser  squadron. 

Presently  from  behind  Helgoland  came  a  number  of  German 
destroyers,  followed  by  two  cruisers;  and  the  English  submarines, 
with  the  two  small  destroyers,  fled  westwards,  acting  as  a  decoy. 
As  the  Germans  followed,  the  British  destroyer  flotillas  on  the 
northwest  came  rapidly  down.  At  the  sight  of  these  destroyers 
the  German  destroyers  fled,  and  the  British  attempted  to  head 
them  off. 

According  to  the  official  report  the  principle  of  the  movement 


THE   STRUGGLE  FOR  SUPREMACY  161 

was  to  cut  the  German  light  craft  from  home,  and  engage  it  at 
leisure  on  the  open  sea. 

But  between  the  two  German  cruisers  and  the  English  cruisers 
a  fierce  battle  took  place.  The  Arethusa  was  engaged  with  the 
German  Ariadne,  and  the  Fearless  with  the  Strasburg.  A  shot 
from  the  Arethusa  shattered  the  fore  bridge  of  the  Ariadne  and 
killed  the  captain,  and  both  German  cruisers  drew  off  toward 
Helgoland. 

Meanwhile  the  destroyers  were  engaged  in  a  hot  fight.  They 
sunk  the  leading  boat  of  the  German  flotilla  and  damaged  a  dozen 
more.  Between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  there  was  a  lull  hi  the  fight; 
the  submarines,  with  some  of  the  destroyers,  remained  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Helgoland,  and  the  Germans,  believing  that  these 
boats  were  the  only  hostile  vessels  in  the  neighborhood,  determined 
to  attack  them. 

The  Mainz,  the  Koln,  and  the  Strasburg  came  again  on  the 
scene,  and  opened  a  heavy  fire  on  some  of  the  boats  of  the  first 
flotilla  which  were  busy  saving  life.  The  small  destroyers  were 
driven  away,  but  the  seamen  hi  the  boats  were  rescued  by  an 
English  submarine.  The  Arethusa  and  the  Fearless,  with  the 
destroyers  hi  then:  company,  engaged  with  three  enemy  cruisers. 
The  Strasburg,  seriously  injured,  was  compelled  to  flee.  The 
boilers  of  the  Mainz  blew  up,  and  she  became  a  wreck.  The  Koln 
only  remaining  and  carrying  on  the  fight. 

The  English  destroyers  were  much  crippled,  and  as  the  battle 
had  now  lasted  for  five  hours  any  moment  the  German  great  battle- 
ships might  come  on  the  scene.  A  wireless  signal  had  been  sent  to 
Sir  David  Beatty,  asking  for  help,  and  about  twelve  o'clock  the 
Falmouth  and  the  Nottingham  arrived  on  the  scene  of  action.  By 
this  time  the  first  destroyer  flotilla  was  out  of  action  and  the  third 
flotilla  and  the  Arethusa  had  their  hands  full  with  the  Koln.  The 
light  cruisers  were  followed  at  12.15  by  the  English  battle  cruisers, 
the  Lion  came  first,  and  she  alone  among  the  battle  cruisers  seems 
to  have  used  her  guns.  Her  gun  power  beat  down  all  opposition. 
The  Koln  made  for  home,  but  the  Lion's  guns  set  her  on  fire. 
The  luckless  Ariadne  hove  in  sight,  but  the  terrible  13.5-inch  guns 
sufficed  for  her.  The  battle  cruisers  circled  around,  and  in  ten 
minutes  the  Koln  went  to  the  bottom. 

At  twenty    minutes  to  two.    Admiral    Beatty  turned  home- 


162  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

ward.  The  German  cruisers  Mainz,  Koln,  and  the  Ariadne  had 
been  sunk;  the  Strasburg  was  seriously  damaged.  One  destroyer 
was  sunk,  and  at  least  seven  seriously  injured.  About  seven  hundred 
of  the  German  crew  perished  and  there  were  three  hundred  prisoners. 
The  British  force  returned  without  the  loss  of  a  single  ship.  The 
Arethusa  had  been  badly  damaged,  but  was  easily  repaired.  The 
casualty  list  was  thirty-two  killed  and  fifty-two  wounded.  The 
battle  was  fought  on  both  sides  with  great  gallantry,  the  chief 
glory  belonging  to  the  Arethusa  and  the  Fearless  who  bore  the  brunt 
of  the  battle.  The  strategy  and  tactical  skill  employed  were  ad- 
mirable, and  the  German  admiral,  von  Ingenohl  from  that  time 
on,  with  one  exception,  kept  his  battleships  in  harbor,  and  confined 
his  activities  to  mine  laying  and  the  use  of  submarines. 

In  the  first  days  of  the  war  the  German  mine  layers  had  been 
busy.  By  means  of  trawlers  disguised  as  neutrals,  mines  were 
dropped  off  the  north  coast  of  Ireland,  and  a  large  mine  field  was 
laid  off  the  eastern  coast  of  England.  One  of  the  most  important 
duties  of  the  Royal  Naval  Reserve  was  the  task  of  mine  sweeping. 
Over  seven  hundred  mine-sweeping  vessels  were  constantly  em- 
ployed in  keeping  an  area  of  7,200  square  miles  clear  for  shipping. 
These  ships  swept  15,000  square  miles  monthly,  and  steamed  over 
1,100,000  miles  in  carrying  out  their  duties. 

It  would  be  hard  to  overestimate  the  effect  of  the  British 
blockade  of  the  German  ports  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  war.  The 
Germans  for  a  long  tune  attempted,  by  the  use  of  neutral  ships, 
to  obtain  the  necessary  supplies  through  Holland,  Sweden,  Norway 
and  Switzerland.  Millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  food  and  munitions 
ultimately  reached  German  hands.  The  imports  of  all  these 
nations  were  multiplied  many  times,  but  as  the  time  went  on  the 
blockade  grew  stricter  and  stricter  until  the  Germans  felt  the 
pinch.  To  conduct  efficiently  this  blockade  meant  the  use  of  over 
3,600  vessels  which  were  added  to  the  auxiliary  patrol  service. 
Over  13,000  vessels  were  intercepted  and  examined  by  units  of 
the  British  navy  employed  on  blockade  channels. 

The  Germans  protested  with  great  vigor  against  this  blockade, 
and  ultimately  endeavored  to  counteract  it  by  declaring  unre- 
stricted submarine  warfare.  In  fact,  Great  Britain  had  gone  too 
far,  and  vigorous  protests  from  America  followed  her  attempt  to 
seize  contraband  goods  in  American  vessels. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SUPREMACY  163 

The  code  of  maritime  law,  adopted  in  the  Declaration  at  Paris 
of  1856,  as  well  as  the  Declaration  in  London  of  1909,  had  been 
framed  in  the  interests  of  unmaritime  nations.  The  British 
plenipotentiaries  had  agreed  to  these  laws  on  the  theory  that  in 
any  war  of  the  future  Britain  would  be  neutral.  The  rights  of 
neutrals  had  been  greatly  increased.  A  blockade  was  difficult  to 
enforce,  for  the  right  of  a  blockading  power  to  capture  a  blockade 
runner  did  not  cover  the  whole  period  of  her  voyage,  and  was 
confined  to  ships  of  the  blockading  force.  A  ship  carrying  contra- 
band could  only  be  condemned  if  the  contraband  formed  more 
than  half  its  cargo.  A  belligerent  warship  could  destroy  a  neutral 
vessel  without  taking  it  into  a  port  for  a  judgment.  The  transfer 
of  an  enemy  vessel  to  a  neutral  flag  was  presumed  to  be  valid,  if 
effected  more  than  thirty  days  before  the  outbreak  of  war.  Bel- 
ligerents in  neutral  vessels  on  the  high  seas  were  exempt  from 
capture.  The  Emden  could  justify  its  sinking  of  British  ships, 
but  the  English  were  handicapped  hi  their  endeavor  to  prevent 
neutral  ships  from  carrying  supplies  to  Germany. 

But  Germany  had  become  a  law  unto  itself.  And  England 
found  it  necessary  in  retaliation  to  issue  orders  in  council  which 
made  nugatory  many  of  the  provisions  of  the  maritime  code.  The 
protests  of  the  American  Government  and  those  of  other  neutrals 
were  treated  with  the  greatest  consideration,  and  every  endeavor 
was  made  that  no  real  injustice  should  be  done.  When  America 
itself  later  entered  the  war  these  differences  of  opinion  disappeared 
from  public  view. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  SUBLIME  PORTE 

A  SOON  as  the  diplomatic  relations  between  Austria  and 
Serbia    had    been    broken,   the    Turkish    Grand    Vizier 
informed   the   diplomatic   corps   hi    Constantinople   that 
Turkey  would  remain  neutral  in  the  conflict.    The  declara- 
tion was  not  formal,  for  war  had  not  yet  been  declared.     The 
policy  of  Turkey,  as  represented  in  the  ministerial  paper,  Tasfiri- 
Efkiar,  was  as  follows: 

"Turkey  has  never  asked  for  war,  as  she  always  has  worked 
toward  avoiding  it,  but  neutrality  does  not  mean  indifference. 
The  present  Austro-Serbian  conflict  is  to  a  supreme  degree  inter- 
esting to  us.  In  the  first  place,  one  of  our  erstwhile  opponents  is 
fighting  against  a  much  stronger  enemy.  In  the  natural  course 
of  things  Serbia,  which  till  lately  was  expressing,  in  a  rather  open 
way,  her  solidarity  as  a  nation,  still  provoking  us,  and  Greece, 
will  be  materially  weakened.  In  the  second  place,  the  results  of 
this  war  may  surpass  the  limits  of  the  conflict  between  two  coun- 
tries, and  in  that  case  our  interests  will  be  just  as  materially 
affected.  We  must,  therefore,  keep  our  eyes  open,  as  the  circum- 
stances are  momentarily  changing,  and  do  not  permit  us  to  let 
escape  certain  advantages  which  we  can  secure  by  active,  and 
rightly  acting,  diplomacy.  The  policy  of  neutrality  will  impose 
on  us  the  obligation  of  avoiding  to  side  with  either  of  the  bellig- 
erents. But  the  same  policy  will  force  us  to  take  all  the  necessary 
measures  for  safeguarding  our  interests  and  our  frontiers." 

Whereupon  a  Turkish  mobilization  was  at  once  ordered.  The 
war  had  hardly  begun  when  Turkey  received  the  news  that  her 
two  battleships,  building  in  British  yards,  had  been  taken  over 
by  England.  A  bitter  feeling  against  England  was  at  once  aroused, 
Turkish  mobs  proceeded  to  attack  the  British  stores  and  British 
subjects,  and  attempts  were  even  made  against  the  British  embassy 
in  Constantinople,  and  the  British  consulate  at  Smyrna. 

At  this  tune  Turkey  was  in  a  peculiar  position.     For  a  cen- 

164 


THE   SUBLIME   PORTE 


165 


tury  she  had  been  on  the  best  of  terms  with  France  and  Great 
Britain.  On  the  other  hand  Russia  had  been  her  hereditary  enemy. 
She  was  still  suffering  from  her  defeat  by  the  Balkan  powers,  and 
her  statesmen  saw  in  this  war  great  possibilities.  She  desired  to 
recover  her  lost  provinces  in  Europe,  and  saw  at  once  that  she 
could  hope  for  little  from  the  Allies  in  this  direction. 

For  some  years,  too,  German  intrigues,  and,  according  to 
report,  German  money,  had  enabled  the  German  Government  to 
control  the  leading  Turkish  statesmen.  German  generals,  under 


SKETCH  OF  TERRITORY  CONTROLLED  BY  TURKEY  IN  1914 

General  Liman  von  Sanders,  were  practically  in  control  of  the 
Turkish  army.  The  commander-in-chief  was  Enver  Bey,  who  had 
been  educated  in  Germany  and  was  more  German  than  the  Germans. 
A  new  system  of  organization  for  the  Turkish  army  had  been 
established  by  the  Germans,  which  had  substituted  the  mechanical 
German  system  for  the  rough  and  inefficient  Turkish  methods. 
Universal  conscription  provided  men,  and  the  Turkish  soldier  has 
always  been  known  as  a  good  soldier.  Yet  as  it  turned  out  the 
German  training  did  little  for  him.  Under  his  own  officers  he 
could  fight  well,  but  under  German  officers,  fighting  for  a  cause 
which  he  neither  liked  nor  understood,  he  was  bound  to  fail. 


166  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

At  first  the  Turkish  mobilization  was  conducted  in  such  a 
way  as  to  be  ready  to  act  in  common  with  Bulgaria  in  an  attack 
against  Greek  and  Serbian  Macedonia,  as  soon  as  the  Austrians 
had  obtained  a  decisive  victory  over  the  Serbians.  The  entry 
of  Great  Britain  into  the  war  interfered  with  this  scheme.  Mean- 
tune,  though  not  at  war,  the  Turks  were  suffering  almost  as  much 
as  if  war  had  been  declared.  Greedy  speculators  took  advantage 
of  the  situation,  and  the  government  itself  requisitioned  every- 
thing it  could  lay  its  hands  on. 

A  Constantinople  correspondent,  writing  on  the  6th  of  August, 
says  as  follows : 

"Policemen  and  sheriffs  followed  by  military  officers  are 
taking  by  force  everything  in  the  way  of  foodstuffs,  entering  the 
bakeries  and  other  shops  selling  victuals,  boarding  ships  with 
cargoes  of  flour,  potatoes,  wheat  and  rice,  and  taking  over  vir- 
tually everything,  giving  hi  lieu  of  payment  a  receipt  which  is 
not  worth  even  the  paper  on  which  it  is  written.  In  this  way 
many  shops  are  forced  to  close,  bread  has  entirely  disappeared 
from  the  bakeries,  and  Constantinople,  the  capital  of  a  neutral 
country,  is  already  feeling  all  the  troubles  and  privations  of  a 
besieged  city.  Prices  for  foodstuffs  have  soared  to  inaccessible 
heights,  as  provisions  are  becoming  scarce.  Actual  hand-to-hand 
combats  are  taking  place  in  the  streets  outside  the  bakeries  for 
the  possession  of  a  loaf  of  bread,  and  hungry  women  with  children 
in  their  arms  are  seen  crying  and  weeping  with  despair.  Many 
merchants,  afraid  lest  the  government  requisition  their  goods, 
hasten  to  have  then*  orders  canceled,  the  result  being  that  no 
merchandise  of  any  kind  is  coming  to  Constantinople  either  from 
Europe  or  from  Anatolia.  Both  on  account  of  the  recruiting  of 
then*  employees,  and  of  shortage  of  coal,  the  companies  operating 
electric  tramways  of  the  city  have  reduced  their  service  to  the 
minimum,  as  no  power  is  available  for  the  running  of  the  cars. 
Heartrending  scenes  are  witnessed  in  front  of  the  closed  doors 
of  the  various  banking  establishments,  where  large  posters  are  to 
be  seen  bearing  the  inscription  'Closed  temporarily  by  order  of 
the  government.' " 

Immediately  after  war  was  declared  between  Germany  and 
Russia  the  Porte  ordered  the  Bosporus  and  Dardanelles  closed  to 
every  kind  of  shipping,  at  the  same  time  barring  the  entrances  of 


THE   SUBLIME  PORTE  167 

lese  channels  with  rows  of  mines.  The  first  boat  to  suffer  from 
lis  measure  was  a  British  merchantman  which  was  sunk  outside 
le  Bosporus,  while  another  had  a  narrow  escape  in  the  Darda- 
nelles. A  large  number  of  steamers  of  every  nationality  waited 
outside  the  straits  for  the  special  pilot  boats  of  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment, in  order  to  pass  in  safety  through  the  dangerous  mine  field. 
This  measure  of  closing  the  straits  was  suggested  to  Turkey  by 
Austria  and  Germany,  and  was  primarily  intended  against  Russia, 
as  it  was  feared  that  her  Black  Sea  fleet  might  force  its  way  into 
the  Sea  of  Marmora  and  the  JEgean.. 

On  August  2d  the  Turkish  Parliament  was  prorogued,  so 
that  all  political  power  might  center  around  the  Imperial  throne. 
A  vigorous  endeavor  was  made  to  strengthen  the  Turkish  navy. 
Djemal  Pasha  was  placed  at  its  head  with  Arif  Bey  as  chief  of  the 
naval  staff.  Talaat  Bey  and  Halil  Bey  were  sent  to  Bucharest  to 
exchange  views  with  Roumanian  statesmen,  and  representatives 
of  the  Greek  Government,  in  regard  to  the  outstanding  Greco- 
Turkish  difficulties. 

On  September  10th  an  official  announcement  from  the  Sublime 
Porte  was  issued  defining  in  the  first  place  many  constitutional 
reforms,  and  in  particular  abolishing  the  capitulation,  that  is, 
the  concessions  made  by  law  to  foreigners,  allowing  them  partici- 
pation in  the  administration  of  justice,  exemption  from  taxation, 
and  special  protection  in  their  business  transactions.  In  abolish- 
ing these  capitulations  the  Ottoman  Government  declared  that  it 
would  treat  foreign  countries  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of 
international  law,  and  that  it  was  acting  without  any  hostile 
feeling  against  any  of  the  foreign  states. 

The  Allied  governments  formally  protested  against  this 
action  of  the  Turkish  Government.  Meantime  Constantinople 
was  the  center  of  most  elaborate  intrigues.  The  Turkish  Govern- 
ment grew  more  and  more  warlike,  and  began  to  threaten,  not 
only  Greece,  but  Russia  and  the  Triple  Entente  as  well.  During 
this  period  the  Turkish  press  maintained  an  active  campaign 
against  England  and  the  Allies.  Every  endeavor  was  made  by 
the  Sublime  Porte  to  secure  Roumanian  or  Bulgarian  co-operation 
in  a  militant  policy.  The  Allies,  seeing  the  situation,  made  many 
promises  to  Bulgaria,  Greece  and  Roumania.  Bulgaria  was 
offered  Adrianople  and  Thrace;  Greece  was  to  have  Smyrna,  and 


168 

Roumania  the  Roumanian  provinces  in  Austria.  The  jealousy  of 
these  powers  of  each  other  prevented  an  agreement.  The  influ- 
ence of  Germany  became  more  and  more  preponderant  with  the 
Ottoman  Empire;  indeed,  it  is  probable  that  an  understanding 
had  existed  between  the  two  powers  from  the  beginning.  The 
action  of  the  Turkish  Government  in  regard  to  the  Goeben  and 
Breslau  could  hardly  have  been  possible  unless  with  a  previous 
understanding.  At  last  the  rupture  came.  The  following  was  the 
official  Turkish  version  of  the  events  which  led  to  the  Turkish 
declaration  of  war: 

"  While  on  the  27th  of  October  a  small  part  of  the  Turkish 
fleet  was  maneuvering  on  the  Black  Sea,  the  Russian  fleet,  which 
at  first  confined  its  activities  to  following  and  hindering  every 
one  of  our  movements,  finally,  on  the  29th,  unexpectedly  began 
hostilities  by  attacking  the  Ottoman  fleet.  During  the  naval 
battle  which  ensued  the  Turkish  fleet,  with  the  help  of  the 
Almighty,  sank  the  mine  layer  Pruth,  inflicted  severe  damage  on 
one  of  the  Russian  torpedo  boats,  and  captured  a  collier.  A 
torpedo  from  the  Turkish  torpedo  boat  Gairet-i-Millet  sank  the 
Russian  destroyer  Koubanietz,  and  another  from  the  Turkish 
torpedo  boat  Mouavenet-i-Millet  inflicted  serious  damage  on  a 
Russian  coast  guard  ship.  Three  officers  and  seventy-two  sailors 
rescued  by  our  men  and  belonging  to  the  crews  of  the  damaged 
and  sunken  vessels  of  the  Russian  fleet  have  been  made  prisoners. 
The  Ottoman  Imperial  fleet,  glory  be  given  to  the  Almighty, 
escaped  injury,  and  the  battle  is  progressing  favorably  for  us. 
Information  received  from  our  fleet,  now  in  the  Black  Sea,  is  as 
follows: 

"From  accounts  of  Russian  sailors  taken  prisoners,  and  from 
the  presence  of  a  mine  layer  among  the  Russian  fleet,  evidence 
is  gathered  that  the  Russian  fleet  intended  closing  the  entrance  to 
the  Bosporus  with  mines,  and  destroying  entirely  the  Imperial 
Ottoman  fleet,  after  having  split  it  in  two.  Our  fleet,  believin; 
that  it  had  to  face  an  unexpected  attack,  and  supposing  that  tho 
Russians  had  begun  hostilities  without  a  formal  declaration  of  war, 
pursued  the  scattered  Russian  fleet,  bombarded  the  port  of  Sebas- 
topol,  destroyed  hi  the  city  of  Novorossisk  fifty  petroleum  depots, 
fourteen  military  transports,  some  granaries,  and  the  wireless 
telegraph  station.  In  addition  to  the  above  our  fleet  has  sunk  in 


FAMOUS  BRITISH  GENERALS 

General  Smith-Dorrien,  British  Corps  Commander  in  the  famous  retreat 
from  Mons;  Generals  Plumer,  Rawlinson  and  Byng,  Commanders  on  the  Western 
Front-  General  Birdwood,  Commander  of  the  Australian- New  Zealand  troops 
at  Gallipoli. 


FAMOUS  FRENCH  GENERALS 

Marshal  P6tain,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  French  armies  in  the  West; 
Generals  Mangin,  Gouraud  and  Humbert,  Army  Commanders  in  the  West; 
General  Gallieni,  Commander  of  Paris,  who  sent  forward  an  army  in  taxicabs  to 
save  the  day  at  the  First  Battle  of  the  Marne. 


THE  SUBLIME  PORTE  171 

Odessa  a  Russian  cruiser,  and  damaged  severely  another.  It  is 
believed  that  this  second  boat  was  likewise  sunk.  Five  other 
steamers  full  of  cargoes  lying  in  the  same  port  were  seriously 
damaged.  A  steamship  belonging  to  the  Russian  volunteer  fleet 
was  also  sunk,  and  five  petroleum  depots  were  destroyed.  In 
Odessa  and  Sebastopol  the  Russians  from  the  shore  opened  fire 
against  our  fleet." 

The  Sultan  at  once  declared  war  against  Russia,  England  and 
France,  and  issued  a  proclamation  to  his  troops,  declaring  that  he 
had  called  them  to  arms  to  resist  aggression  and  that  "the  very 
existence  of  our  Empire  and  of  three  hundred  million  Moslems 
whom  I  have  summoned  by  sacred  Fetwa  to  a  supreme  struggle, 
depend  on  your  victory.  Do  not  forget  that  you  are  brothers 
hi  arms  of  the  strongest  and  bravest  armies  of  the  world,  with 
whom  we  are  now  fighting  shoulder  to  shoulder." 

The  Fetwa,  or  proclamation  announcing  a  holy  war,  called 
upon  all  Mussulmans  capable  of  carrying  arms,  aad  even  upon 
Mussulman  women  to  fight  against  the  powers  with  whom  the 
Sultan  was  at  war.  In  this  manner  the  holy  war  became  a  duty, 
not  only  for  all  Ottoman  subjects,  but  for  the  three  hundred  million 
Moslems  of  the  earth.  On  November  5th  Great  Britain  declared 
war  against  Turkey,  ordered  the  seizure  hi  British  ports  of  Turkish 
vessels,  and,  by  an  order  hi  Council,  annexed  the  Island  of  Cyprus. 
On  the  17th  of  December,  the  Khedive  Abbas  II,  having  thrown 
in  his  lot  with  Turkey  and  fled  to  Constantinople,  Egypt  was  form- 
ally proclaimed  a  British  Protectorate.  The  title  of  Khedive  was 
abolished,  and  the  throne  of  Egypt,  with  the  title  of  Sultan,  was 
offered  to  Prince  Hussein  Kamel  Pasha,  the  eldest  living  prince  of 
the  house  of  Mahomet  Ali,  an  able  and  enlightened  man.  This 
meant  that  Britain  was  now  wholly  responsible  for  the  defense  of 
Egypt.  The  new  Sultan  of  Egypt  made  his  state  entry  on  Decem- 
ber 20th  into  the  Abdin  Palace  in  Cairo.  The  progress  of  the 
new  ruler  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm  by  thousands  of 
spectators. 

The  King  of  England  sent  a  telegram  of  congratulation  with 
his  promise  of  support:  --., 

On  the  occasion*  when  your  Highness  enters  upon  your  high  office  I 
desire  to  convey  to  your  Highness  the  expression  of  my  most  sincere 
friendship,  and  the  assurance  of  my  unfailing  support  in  safeguarding  the 


172  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

integrity  of  Egypt,  and  in  securing  her  future  well  being  and  prosperity. 
Your  Highness  has  been  called  upon  to  undertake  the  responsibilities  of 
your  high  office  at  a  grave  crisis  in  the  national  life  of  Egypt,  and  I  feel 
convinced  that  you  will  be  able,  with  the  co-operation  of  your  Ministers, 
and  the  Protectorate  of  Great  Britain,  successfully  to  overcome  all  the 
influences  which  are  seeking  to  destroy  the  independence  of  Egypt  and 
the  wealth,  liberty  and  happiness  of  its  people. 

This  was  Britain's  answer  to  the  Turkish  proclamation  of 
war.  The  Turks  had  not  taken  this  warlike  course  with  entire 
unanimity.  The  Sultan,  the  Grand  Vizier,  and  Djavid  Bey  were 
in  favor  of  peace,  but  Enver  Pasha  and  his  colleagues  overruled 
them.  The  Odessa  incident  was  unjustified  aggression,  deliberately 
planned  to  provoke  hostilities.  The  tricky  and  corrupt  German 
diplomacy  had  won  its  point. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  proclamation  of  the  holy 
war,  a  favorite  German  scheme,  fell  flat.  The  Kaiser,  and  his 
advisers,  had  counted  much  upon  this  raising  of  the  sacred  flag. 
The  Kaiser  had  visited  Constantinople  and  permitted  himself 
to  be  exploited  as  a  sympathizer  with  Mohammedanism.  Photo- 
graphs of  him  had  been  taken  representing  him  hi  Mohammedan 
garb,  accompanied  by  Moslem  priests,  and  a  report  had  been 
deliberately  circulated  throughout  Turkey  that  he  had  become  a 
Moslem.  The  object  of  this  camouflage  was  to  stir  up  the 
Mohammedans  in  the  countries  controlled  by  England,  risings 
were  hoped  for  hi  Egypt  and  India,  and  German  spies  had  been 
distributed  through  those  countries  to  encourage  religious  revolts. 
But  there  was  almost  no  response.  The  Sultan,  it  is  true,  was  the 
head  of  the  Church,  but  who  was  the  Sultan?  The  old  Sultan, 
now  dethroned,  and  imprisoned,  or  this  new  and  insignificant 
creature  placed  on  the  throne  by  the  young  Turk  party?  The 
Mohammedan  did  not  feel  himself  greatly  moved. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  Turkey  found  herself  unable  to 
make  any  move  to  recover  her  provinces  in  Thrace.  Greece  and 
Bulgaria  were  neutral,  and  could  not  be  attacked.  Placing  herself, 
therefore,  in  the  hands  of  her  German  advisers,  she  moved  her  new 
army  to  those  frontiers  where  it  could  meet  the  powers  with  whom 
she  was  at  war.  In  particular  Germany  and  Austria  desired  her 
aid  hi  Transcaucasia  against  the  Russian  armies.  An  attack 
upon  Russia  from  that  quarter  would  mean  that  many  troops  which 


THE  SUBLIME  PORTE  173 

otherwise  would  have  been  used  against  the  Central  Powers  must 
be  sent  to  the  Caucasus.  The  Suez  Canal,  too,  must  be  attacked. 
An  expedition  there  would  compel  Great  Britain  to  send  out  troops, 
and  perhaps  would  encourage  the  hoped-for  rebellion  in  Egypt 
and  give  an  opportunity  for  religious  insurrection  hi  India,  where 
the  D jehad  was  being  preached  among  the  Mohammedan  tribes 
in  the  northwest.  The  Dardanelles,  to  be  sure,  might  be  threat- 
ened, but  the  Germans  had  sent  there  many  heavy  guns  and  forti- 
fications had  been  built  which,  in  expert  opinion,  made  Constanti- 
nople safe. 

The  Turkish  offensive  along  her  eastern  frontier  hi  Trans- 
caucasia and  in  Persia  was  first  undertaken.  The  Persian  Gulf 
had  long  been  controlled  by  Great  Britain;  even  in  the  days  of 
Elizabeth  the  East  India  Company  had  fought  with  Dutch  and 
Portuguese  rivals  for  control  of  its  commerce.  The  English  had 
protected  Persia,  suppressed  piracy  and  slavery,  and  introduced 
sanitary  measures  in  the  marshes  along  the  coast.  They  regarded 
a  control  of  the  Persian  Gulf  as  necessary  for  the  prosperity  of 
India  and  the  Empire.  The  Turkish  Government  had  never  had 
great  power  along  the  Persian  Gulf.  Bagdad,  indeed,  had  been 
captured  by  Suleiman  the  Magnificent  hi  the  sixteenth  century, 
but  in  eastern  Arabia  lived  many  independent  Arabian  chieftains 
who  had  no  idea  of  subjecting  themselves  to  Turkish  rule. 

For  years  Germany  had  been  looking  with  jealous  eyes  in  this 
direction.  Her  elaborate  intrigues  with  Turkey  were  mainly 
designed  to  open  up  the  way  to  the  Persian  Gulf.  She  had  planned 
a  great  railway  to  open  up  trade,  and  her  endeavor  to  build  the 
Bagdad  Railway  is  a  story  in  itself.  Her  efforts  had  lasted  for 
many  years,  but  she  found  herself  constantly  blocked  by  the  agents 
of  Great  Britain. 

Before  the  Ottoman  troops  were  ready,  the  British  in  the 
Gulf  had  made  a  start.  On  November  7th  a  British  force  under 
Brigadier-General  Delamain  bombarded  the  Turkish  fort  at  Falon, 
landed  troops  and  occupied  the  village.  Sailing  north  from  this 
point  they  disembarked  at  Sanijah,  where  they  intrenched  them- 
selves and  waited  for  reinforcements.  On  November  13th  rein- 
forcements arrived,  and  on  November  17th  the  British  army 
advanced  toward  Sahain.  From  there  they  moved  on  Sahil,  where 
they  encountered  a  Turkish  force.  Some  lively  fighting  ensued  and 


174  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  Turks  broke  and  fled.  Turkish  casualties  were  about  one 
thousand  five  hundred  men,  the  English  killed  numbered  thirty-eight. 

The  British  then  moved  on  Basra,  moving  by  steamer  along  the 
Shat-el-Arab  River.  On  November  22d  Basra  was  reached  and 
it  was  found  that  the  Turks  had  evacuated  the  place.  A  base 
camp  was  then  prepared,  for  it  was  certain  that  there  would  be 
further  fighting.  Bagdad  was  only  about  three  hundred  miles 
distant;  and  fifty  miles  above  Basra,  at  the  junction  of  the  Tigris 
and  the  Euphrates,  lies  the  town  of  Kurna  where  the  Turks  were 
gathering  an  army.  On  December  4th  an  attack  was  made  on 
Kurna  but.  without  success.  The  British  obtained  reinforcements, 
but  on  December  9th  the  Turkish  garrison  surrendered  uncondi- 
tionally. The  British  troops  then  intrenched  themselves,  having 
established  a  barricade  against  a  hostile  advance  upon  India. 

Farther  north  the  war  was  between  Turkey  and  Russia.  Since 
Persia  had  no  military  power,  each  combatant  was  able  to  occupy 
that  country  whenever  they  desired.  The  Turks  advanced  into 
Persia  south  of  Lake  Urmia,  and,  meeting  with  no  resistance  from 
Persia,  moved  northward  toward  the  Russian  frontier.  On  the 
30th  of  January,  1915,  Russian  troops  heavily  defeated  the  invaders 
and  followed  ftiem  south  as  far  as  Tabriz,  which  they  occupied  and 
held.  The  Russian  armies  had  also  undertaken  movements  hi 
this  section.  In  the  extreme  northwest  of  Persia  a  Russian  column 
had  crossed  the  frontier,  and  occupied,  on  the  3d  of  November,  the 
town  of  Bayazid  close  to  Mt.  Ararat.  Other  columns  entered 
Kurdestan,  and  an  expedition  against  Van  was  begun.  Further 
north  another  Russian  column  crossed  the  frontier  and  captured 
the  town  of  Karakilissa,  but  was  held  there  by  the  Turks. 

These  were  minor  expeditions.  The  real  struggle  was  hi  Trans- 
caucasia, where  the  main  body  of  the  Turkish  army  under  Enver 
Pasha  himself  was  in  action.  At  this  point  the  boundaries  of 
Turkey  touch  upon  the  Russian  Empire.  To  the  north  is  the 
Great  Russian  fortress  of  Kars,  to  the  south  and  west  the  Turkish 
stronghold  of  Erzerum.  The  whole  district  is  a  great  mountain 
tangle,  the  towns  standing  at  an  altitude  of  5,000  and  6,000  feet, 
surrounded  by  lofty  hills.  None  of  the  roads  are  good,  and  hi 
winter  the  passes  are  almost  impassable.  In  all  the  wars  between 
Russia  and  Turkey,  these  mountain  regions  have  been  the  scenes 
of  desperate  battles. 


THE  SUBLIME  PORTE  175 

The  Turkish  plan  of  battle  was  to  entice  the  Russians  from 
Sarakamish  across  the  frontier,  leading  them  on  to  some  distance 
from  their  base,  then,  while  holding  their  front,  a  second  force  was 
to  swing  around  and  attack  them  on  the  left  flank.  The  plan  was 
simple,  the  difficulty  was  the  swing  of  the  left  flank,  which  had  to 
be  made  through  mountain  paths,  deeply  covered  with  snow.  The 
Turkish  army  was  composed  of  about  150,000  men  under  the 
command  of  Hassan  Izzet  Pasha,  but  Enver,  with  a  large  German 
staff,  was  the  true  commander.  The  Russian  army,  under  General 
Woronzov  was  about  100,000  men. 

Early  hi  November  the  Russians  crossed  the  frontier  and 
reached  Koprikeui,  which  they  occupied  on  the  20th  of  November. 
The  Turkish  Eleventh  corps  was  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  holding 
the  Russian  forces;  the  remainder  of  the  army  was  to  advance 
over  the  passes  and  take  their  stations  behind  the  Russian  right. 
On  December  25th  the  Turkish  attack  began.  The  Eleventh  corps 
forced  back  the  Russians  from  Koprikeui  to  Khorasan,  while  the 
extreme  Turkish  left  was  endeavoring  to  outflank  them.  But  the 
weather  was  desperate.  A  blizzard  was  sweeping  down  the  steeps. 
The  Turkish  forces  were  indeed  able  to  carry  out  the  plan,  for  they 
obtained  the  position  desired.  But  by  this  time  they  were  worn  out, 
and  half  starved,  and  then-  attack  on  New  Year's  Day  resulted  in 
their  defeat  and  retreat.  The  Ninth  corps  was  utterly  wiped  out, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  Turkish  forces  driven  off  in  confusion. 
Only  the  strenuous  efforts  of  the  Turkish  Eleventh  corps  prevented 
a  debacle.  After  a  three  days'  battle  it,  too,  was  broken,  and  with 
heavy  losses  it  retreated  toward  Erzerum.  The  snowdrifts  and 
blizzards  must  have  accounted  for  not  less  than  50,000  of  the 
Turkish  troops.  The  result  of  the  battle  made  Russia  safe  in  the 
Caucasus. 

But  the  Germans  had  another  use  for  the  Turkish  forces. 
England  was  in  control  of  Egypt  and  the  Suez  Canal.  The  German 
view  of  England's  position  has  been  well  stated  by  Dr.  Paul 
Rohrbach: 

"As  soon  as  England  acquired  Egypt  it  was  incumbent  upon  her 
to  guard  against  any  menace  from  Asia.  Such  a  danger  apparently 
arose  when  Turkey,  weakened  by  her  last  war  with  Russia  and  by 
difficult  conditions  at  home,  began  to  turn  to  Germany  for  support. 
And  now  war  has  come,  and  England  is  reaping  the  crops  which  she 


176  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

has  sown.  England,  not  we,  desired  this  war.  She  knows  this, 
despite  all  her  hypocritical  talk,  and  she  fears  that,  as  soon 
as  connection  is  established  along  the  Berlin-Vienna-Budapest- 
Sofia-Constantinople  Line,  the  fate  of  Egypt  may  be  decided. 
Through  the  Suez  Canal  goes  the  route  to  all  the  lands  surround- 
ing the  Indian  Ocean,  and  by  way  of  Singapore  to  the  western 
shores  of  the  Pacific.  These  two  worlds  together  have  about 
nine  hundred  million  inhabitants,  more  than  half  the  popu- 
lation of  the  universe,  and  India  lies  in  a  controlling  position  in 
their  midst.  Should  England  lose  the  Suez  Canal  she  will  be 
obliged,  unlike  the  powers  hi  control  of  that  waterway,  to  use  the 
long  route  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  depend  on  the 
good  will  of  the  South  African  Boers.  The  majority  among  the 
latter  have  not  the  same  views  as  Botha.  However,  it  is  too  early 
to  prophesy,  and  it  is  not  according  to  German  ideas  to  imitate 
our  opponents  by  singing  premature  paeans  of  victory.  But  any- 
how we  are  well  aware  why  anxious  England  already  sees  us  on 
the  road  to  India." 

Following  out  this  view  a  Turkish  force  was  directed  toward 
the  Suez  Canal,  while  the  German  intriguers  did  their  best  to  stir 
up  revolt  hi  Egypt  itself.  The  story  of  Egypt  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  parts  of  the  world's  history.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
world  it  led  mankind.  Its  peculiar  geographical  position  at  first 
gave  it  strength,  and  afterward  made  it  the  prize  for  which  all 
nations  were  ready  to  contend.  In  1517  the  Sultan  Selim  con- 
quered Egypt  and  made  it  part  of  the  Turkish  realm,  and  in  spite 
of  many  changes  the  sovereignty  of  Constantinople  had  continued. 
In  recent  years  the  misgovernment  of  the  Khedive  Ismael  had 
brought  into  its  control  France  and  Britain;  then  came  the  deposi- 
tion of  Ismael,  the  revolt  under  Arabi,  the  bombardment  of 
Alexandria  and  the  battle  of  Tel-el-Kebir.  Since  then  Egypt  has 
been  occupied  by  Great  Britain,  who  restored  order,  defeated  the 
inmes  of  the  Mahdi,  and  turned  Egyptian  bankruptcy  into 
ospenty.  Lord  Kitchener  was  the  English  hero  of  the  wars  with 

Mahdi,  and   Lord  Cromer  the  administrator  who  gave  the 

l^gyptian  peasant  a  comfort  unknown  since  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs. 

*  prosperity  came  political  agitation,  and  Germany,  as  has  been 

en,  looked  upon  Egypt  as  fertile  territory  for  German  propaganda. 

intrigue  having  failed  in  Egypt,  a  Turkish  force  was  directed 


THE  SUBLIME  PORTE  177 

against  the  Suez  Canal.  If  that  could  be  captured  Great  Britain 
could  be  cut  off  from  India.  An  expeditionary  army  of  about 
65,000  men  was  gathered  under  the  command  of  Djemal  Pasha, 
the  former  Turkish  Minister  of  Marine.  He  had  been  bitterly 
indignant  at  the  seizure  of  the  two  Turkish  dreadnaughts  building 
in  England,  and  was  burning  for  revenge.  But  he  found  great 
difficulties  before  him.  To  reach  the  Canal  it  was  necessary  to 
cross  a  trackless  desert,  varying  from  120  to  150  miles  hi  width. 
Over  this  desert  there  were  three  routes.  The  first  touched  the 
Mediterranean  coast  at  El-Arish  and  then  went  across  the  desert 
to  El-Kantara  on  the  Canal,  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Port  Said. 
On  this  route  there  were  only  a  few  wells,  quite  insufficient  for  an 
army.  A  second  route  ran  from  Akaba,  on  the  Red  Sea,  across 
the  Peninsula  of  Sinai  to  a  point  a  little  north  of  Suez.  This  was 
also  badly  supplied  with  wells.  Between  the  two  was  the  central 
route.  Leaving  the  Mediterranean  at  El-Arish  it  ran  up  the  valley 
called  the  Wady  El-Arish  to  where  that  valley  touched  the  second 
road.  There  was  no  railway,  nor  were  these  roads  suitable  for 
motor  transports;  for  an  army  to  move  it  would  be  necessary 
either  to  build  a  railway  or  to  improve  the  roads.  The  best  route 
for  railway  was  the  Wady  El-Arish.  The  Suez  Canal,  moreover,  can 
be  easily  defended.  It  is  over  two  hundred  feet  wide,  with  banks 
rising  to  a  height  of  forty  feet.  A  railway  runs  along  the  whole 
Canal,  and  most  of  the  ground  to  the  east  is  flat,  offering  a  good 
field  of  fire  either  to  troops  on  the  banks  or  to  ships  on  the  Canal. 
A  considerable  force  of  British  troops,  under  the  command 
of  Major-General  Sir  John  Maxwell,  were  assigned  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Canal.  About  the  end  of  October  it  was  reported 
that  2,000  Bedouins  were  marching  on  the  Canal,  and  on  November 
21st  a  skirmish  took  place  between  this  force  and  some  of  the 
English  troops  in  which  the  Bedouins  were  repelled.  Nothing 
more  was  heard  for  more  than  two  months,  but  on  January  28,  1915, 
a  small  advance  party  from  the  Turkish  army  was  beaten  back 
east  of  El-Kantara.  British  airmen  watched  the  desert  well,  and 
kept  the  British  army  well  informed  of  the  Turkish  movements. 
The  Turks  had  found  it  impossible  to  convey  then'  full  force  across 
the  desert,  and  the  forces  which  finally  arrived  seemed  to  have 
numbered  only  about  twelve  thousand  men.  The  main  attack 
was  not  developed  until  February  2d. 


178  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

According  to  an  account  in  the  London  Times,  on  that  date, 
the  enemy  began  to  move  toward  the  Ismailia  Ferry.  They  met 
a  reconnoitering  party  of  Indian  troops  of  all  arms,  and  a  desultory 
engagement  ensued  to  which  a  violent  sandstorm  put  a  sudden  end 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  main  attacking  force 
pushed  forward  toward  its  destination  after  nightfall.  From 
twenty-five  to  thirty  galvanized  iron  pontoon  boats,  seven  and  a 
half  meters  in  length,  which  had  been  dragged  hi  carts  across  the 
desert,  were  hauled  by  hand  toward  the  water.  With  one  or  two 
rafts  made  of  kerosene  tins  in  a  wooden  frame,  all  was  ready  for 
the  attack.  The  first  warning  of  the  enemy's  approach  was  given 
by  a  sentry  of  a  mountain  battery  who  heard,  to  him,  an  unknown 
tongue  across  the  water.  The  noise  soon  increased.  It  would  seem 
that  Mudjah  Ideem — "Holy  Warriors" — said  to  be  mostly  old 
Tripoli  fighters,  accompanied  the  pontoon  section,  and  regulars 
of  the  Seventy-fifth  regiment,  for  loud  exultations,  often  in 
Arabic,  of  "Brothers,  die  for  the  faith;  we  can  die  but  once," 
betrayed  the  enthusiastic  irregular. 

The  Egyptians  waited  until  the  Turks  were  pushing  their 
boats  into  the  water,  then  the  Maxims  attached  to  the  battery 
suddenly  spoke,  and  the  guns  opened  at  point-blank  range  at  the 
men  and  boats  crowded  under  the  steep  bank  opposite  them. 
Immediately  a  violent  fire  broke  out  on  both  sides  of  the  Canal. 

A  little  torpedo  boat  with  a  crew  of  thirteen,  patrolling  the 
Canal,  dashed  up  and  landed  a  party  of  four  ofiicers  and  men  to  the 
south  of  Tussum,  who  climbed  up  the  eastern  bank  and  found 
themselves  in  a  Turkish  trench,  and  escaped  by  a  miracle  with  the 
news.  Promptly  the  midget  dashed  in  between  the  fires  and 
enfiladed  the  eastern  bank  amid  a  hail  of  bullets,  and  destroyed 
several  pontoon  boats  lying  unlaunched  on  the  bank.  It  continued 
to  harass  the  enemy,  though  two  ofiicers  and  two  men  were 
wounded. 

As  the  dark,  cloudy  night  lightened  toward  dawn  fresh  forces 

.into  action.    The  Turks,  who  occupied  the  outer,  or  day,  line 

Tussum  post,  advanced,  covered  by  artillery,  against  the 

ian  troops,  holding  the  inner  or  night  position,  while  an  Arab 

regiment  advanced  against  the  Indian  troop  at  the  Serapeum  post. 

The  warships  on  the  Canal  and  lake  joined  in  the  fray.    The  enemy 

brought  some  six  batteries  of  field  guns  into  action  from  the  slopes 


THE  SUBLIME  PORTE  179 

west  of  Kataiba-el-kaeli.  Shells  admirably  fused  made  fine  practice 
at  all  the  visible  targets,  but  failed  to  find  the  battery  above  men- 
tioned, which,  with  some  help  from  a  detachment  of  inf  antry,  beat 
down  the  fire  of  the  riflemen  on  the  opposite  bank  and  inflicted 
heavy  losses  on  the  hostile  supports  advancing  toward  the  Canal. 

Supported  by  land  and  naval  artillery  the  Indian  troops  took1* 
the  offensive,  the  Serapeum  garrison,  which  had  stopped  the  enemy 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  position,  cleared  its  front,  and  the 
Tussum  garrison,  by  a  brilliant  counter-attack,  drove  the  enemy 
back.  Two  battalions  of  Anatolians  of  the  Twenty-eighth  regi- 
ment were  thrown  into  the  fight,  but  the  artillery  gave  them  no 
chance,  and  by  3.30  in  the  afternoon  a  third  of  the  enemy,  with  the 
exception  of  a  force  that  lay  hid  in  bushy  hollows  on  the  east  bank 
between  the  two  posts,  were  in  full  retreat,  leaving  many  dead,  a 
large  proportion  of  whom  had  been  killed  by  shrapnel.  Meanwhile 
the  warships  on  the  lake  had  been  in  action,  a  salvo  from  a  battleship 
woke  up  Ismailia  early,  and  crowds  of  soldiers  and  some  civilians 
climbed  every  available  sand  hill  to  see  what  was  doing,  till  the 
Turkish  guns  sent  shells  sufficiently  near  to  convince  them  that  it 
was  safer  to  watch  from  cover. 

At  about  eleven  hi  the  morning  two  six-inch  shells  hit  the 
Hardinge  near  the  southern  entrance  of  the  lake.  They  first  damaged 
the  funnel,  and  the  second  burst  inboard.  Pilot  Carew,  a  gallant 
old  merchant  seaman,  refused  to  go  below  when  the  firing  opened 
and  lost  a  leg.  Nine  others  were  wounded,  one  or  two  merchant- 
men were  hit  but  no  lives  were  lost.  A  British  gunboat  was 
struck.  Then  came  a  dramatic  duel  between  the  Turkish  big 
gun,  or  guns,  and  a  warship.  The  Turks  fired  just  over,  and  then 
just  short,  at  9,000  yards.  The  warship  sent  in  a  salvo  of  more 
six-inch  shells  than  had  been  fired  that  day. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  3d  there  was  sniping  from  the 
east  bank  between  Tussum  and  Serapeum,  and  a  man  was  killed 
on  the  tops  of  a  British  battleship.  Next  morning  the  sniping  was 
renewed  and  the  Indian  troops,  moving  out  to  search  the  ground, 
found  several  hundred  of  the  enemy  in  the  hollow  previously  men- 
tioned. During  the  fighting  some  of  the  enemy,  either  by  accident 
or  design,  held  up  their  hands,  while  others  fired  on  the  Punjabis, 
who  were  advancing  to  take  the  surrender,  and  killed  a  British 
officer.  A  sharp  fight  with  the  cold  steel  followed,  and  a  British 


180  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

officer  killed  a  Turkish  officer  with  a  sword  thrust  in  single  combat. 
A  body  of  a  German  officer  with  a  white  flag  was  afterward  found 
here,  but  there  is  no  proof  that  the  white  flag  was  used.  Finally  all 
the  enemy  were  killed,  captured  or  put  to  flight.  With  this  the 
fighting  ended,  and  the  subsequent  operations  were  confined  to  the 
rounding  up  of  prisoners,  and  the  capture  of  a  considerable  amount 
of  military  material  left  behind.  The  Turks,  who  departed  with 
their  guns  and  baggage  during  the  night  of  the  3d,  still  seemed 
to  be  moving  eastward. 

So  ended  the  battle  of  the  Suez  Canal. 

Two  more  incidents  in  the  Turkish  campaign  remain  to  be 
noticed.  Report  having  come  that  the  town  of  Akaba  on  the 
Red  Sea  was  being  used  as  a  mine-laying  station,  H.  M.  S.  Minerva 
visited  the  place,  and  found  it  occupied  by  soldiers  under  a  German 
officer.  The  Minerva  destroyed  the  fort  and  the  barracks  and  the 
government  buildings.  Another  British  cruiser,  with  a  detachment 
of  Indian  troops,  captured  the  Turkish  fort  at  Sheik  Said,  at  the 
southern  end  of  the  Red  Sea.  And  so  for  the  time  ended  all  Turkish 
movements  against  Great  Britain.  That  such  movements  should 
have  been  possible  seems  hard  to  believe.  For  a  century  the 
British  had  been  the  friends  and  allies  of  the  Turkish  Government. 
In  the  Crimean  War  their  armies  had  fought  side  by  side  with  the 
Turkish  troops  against  Russia.  In  the  Russo-Turkish  War  Lord 
Beaconsfield,  hi  the  negotiations  which  preceded  the  treaty  of 
Berlin,  had  saved  for  Turkey  much  of  its  territory.  It  was  only  the 
British  influence  and  the  fear  of  the  British  power  which  had  pre- 
vented Russia  from  taking  possession  of  Constantinople  a  half  a 
century  before.  The  English  had  always  been  popular  in  Turkey 
and  there  was  every  reason  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  to  believe 
that  their  popularity  had  not  waned.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  average  Turk  had  little  sympathy  with  the  course  of  his 
government,  and  if  a  free  expression  of  the  popular  will  had  been 
possible  the  Turkish  army  would  never  have  been  sent  against 
either  the  Englishmen  or  the  Frenchmen.  But  long  years  of 
German  propaganda  had  done  their  work.  The  power  of  Enver 
Pasha  was  greater  than  that  of  the  weakling  Sultan  and  the  war 
was  forced  upon  the  Turkish  people  by  German  tools  and  German 
bribes. 


CHAPTER  XII 
RESCUE  OF  THE  STAEVINQ 

TTTR  sufferings  of  Belgium  during  the  German  occupation 
were  terrible,  and  attracted  the  attention  and  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  whole  world.  To  understand  conditions  it  is 
necessary  to  know  something  of  the  economic  situation. 
Since  it  had  come  under  the  protection  of  the  Great  Powers,  Bel- 
gium had  developed  into  one  of  the  greatest  manufacturing  coun- 
tries in  the  world.  Nearly  two  million  of  her  citizens  were  employed 
in  the  great  industries,  and  one  million  two  hundred  thousand  on 
the  farms.  She  was  peaceful,  industrious  and  happy.  But  on 
account  of  the  fact  that  more  than  one-half  of  her  citizenship 
earned  their  living  by  daily  labor  she  found  it  impossible  to  pro- 
duce foodstuff  enough  for  her  own  needs.  Seventy-eight  per 
cent  of  her  breadstuffs  had  to  be  imported.  From  her  own  fields 
she  could  hardly  supply  her  population  for  more  than  four  months. 
The  war,  and  the  German  occupation,  almost  destroyed  busi- 
ness. Mines,  workshops^  factories  and  mills  were  closed.  Labor 
found  itself  without  employment  and  consequently  without  wages. 
The  banks  would  extend  no  credit.  But  even  if  there  had  been 
money  enough  it  soon  became  apparent  that  the  food  supply  was 
rapidly  going.  The  German  invasion  had  come  when  the  crops 
were  standing  ripe  upon  the  field.  Those  crops  had  not  been 
reaped,  but  had  been  trampled  under  foot  by  the  hated  German. 

One  feature  of  Belgian  industrial  life  should  be  understood. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  her  workmen  were  employed  each  day 
in  workshops  at  considerable  distances  from  their  own  homes. 
In  times  of  peace  the  morning  and  evening  trains  were  always 
crowded  with  laborers  going  to  and  returning  from  their  daily 
toil.  One  of  the  first  things  seized  upon  by  the  German  officials 
was  the  railroads,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  anyone, 
not  belonging  to  the  German  army,  could  obtain  an  opportunity 
to  travel  at  all,  and  it  was  with  still  greater  difficulty  that  supplies 
of  food  of  any  land  could  be  transported  from  place  to  place. 


182  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Every  village  was  cut  off  from  its  neighbor,  every  town  from  the 
next  town.  People  were  unable  even  to  obtain  news  of  the  great 
political  events  which  were  occurring  from  day  to  day,  and  the 
food  supply  was  automatically  cut  off. 

But  this  was  not  the  worst.  One  of  the  first  moves  of  the  Ger- 
man occupation  was  to  quarter  hundreds  of  thousands  of  troops 
upon  then*  Belgian  victims,  and  these  troops  must  be  fed  even 
though  the  Belgian  and  his  family  were  near  starvation.  Then 
followed  the  German  seizure  of  what  they  called  materials  for  war. 
General  von  Beseler  in  a  despatch  to  the  Kaiser,  after  the  fall  of 
Antwerp,  speaks  very  plainly: 

The  war  booty  taken  at  Antwerp  is  enormous  —  at  least  five  hundred 
cannon  and  huge  quantities  of  ammunition,  sanitation  materials,  high- 
power  motor  cars,  locomotives,  wagons,  four  million  kilograms  of  wheat, 
large  quantities  of  flour,  coal  and  flax  wool,  the  value  of  which  is  estimated 
at  ten  million  marks,  copper,  silver,  one  armored  train,  several  hospital 
trains,  and  quantities  of  fish. 

The  Germans  proceeded  to  commandeer  foodstuffs  and  raw 
materials  of  industry.  Linseed  oil,  oil  cakes,  nitrates,  animal  and 
vegetable  oils,  petroleum  and  mineral  oils,  wool,  copper,  rubber, 
ivory,  cocoa,  rice,  wine,  beer,  all  were  seized  and  sent  home  to  the 
Fatherland.  Moreover,  cities  and  provinces  were  burdened  with 
formidable  war  contributions.  Brussels  was  obliged  to  pay  ten 
million  dollars,  Antwerp  ten  million  dollars,  the  province  of  Bra- 
bant, ninety  millions  of  dollars,  Namur  and  seventeen  surrounding 
communes  six  million  four  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Finally 
Governor  von  Bissing,  on  the  10th  of  December,  1914,  issued  the 
following  decree: 

A  war  contribution  of  the  amount  of  eight  million  dollars  to  be  paid 

monthly  for  one  year  is  imposed  upon  the  population  of  Belgium.     The 

payment  of  these  amounts  is  imposed  upon  the  nine  provinces  which 

are  regarded  as  joint  debtors.     The  two  first  monthly  payments  are  to 

KJ  made  by  the  15th  of  January,  1915,  at  latest,  and  the  following  monthly 

payments  by  the  tenth  of  each  following  month  to  the  military  chest  of 

Field  Army  of  the  General  Imperial  Government  in  Brussels.     If  the 

rovinces  are  obliged  to  resort  to  the  issue  of  stock  with  a  view  to  pro- 

the  necessary  funds,  the  form  and  terme  of  these  shares  will  be 

mned  by  the  Commissary  Genera*  for  the  banks  in  Belgi 


um. 


a  *eeting  of   the  Provincial  Councils  the  vice-president 
rhe    Germans    demand    these    $96,000,000    of    the 


RESCUE  OF  THE  STARVING  183 

country  without  right  and  without  reason.  Are  we  to  sanction 
this  enormous  war  tax?  If  we  listened  only  to  our  hearts,  we 
should  reply  'No!  ninety-six  million  times  no!'  because  our  hearts 
would  tell  us  we  were  a  small,  honest  nation  living  happily  by  its 
free  labor;  we  were  a  small,  honest  nation  having  faith  in  treaties 
and  believing  in  honor;  we  were  a  nation  unarmed,  but  full  of 
confidence,  when  Germany  suddenly  hurled  two  million  men 
upon  our  frontiers,  the  most  brutal  army  that  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  and  said  to  us,  'Betray  the  promise  you  have  given.  Let  my 
armies  go  by,  that  I  may  crush  France,  and  I  will  give  you  gold.' 
Belgium  replied,  'Keep  your  gold.  I  prefer  to  die,  rather  than 
live  without  honor.'  The  German  army  has,  therefore,  crushed 
our  country  in  contempt  of  solemn  treaties.  'It  is  an  injustice,' 
said  the  Chancellor  of  the  German  Empire.  'The  position  of 
Germany  has  forced  us  to  commit  it,  but  we  will  repair  the  wrong 
we  have  done  to  Belgium  by  the  passage  of  our  armies.'  They 
want  to  repair  the  injustice  as  follows:  Belgium  will  pay  Germany 
$96,000,000!  Give  this  proposal  your  vote.  When  Galileo  had 
discovered  the  fact  that  the  earth  moved  around  the  sun,  he  was 
forced  at  the  foot  of  the  stake  to  abjure  his  error,  but  he  murmured, 
'Nevertheless  it  moves.'  Well,  gentlemen,  as  I  fear  a  still  greater 
misfortune  for  my  country  I  consent  to  the  payment  of  the 
$96,000,000  and  I  cry  'Nevertheless  it  moves.'  Long  live  our 
country  hi  spite  of  all." 

At  the  end  of  a  year  von  Bissing  renewed  this  assessment, 
inserting  in  his  decree  the  statement  that  the  decree  was  based 
upon  article  forty-nine  of  The  Hague  Convention,  relating  to  the 
laws  and  usages  of  war  on  land.  This  article  reads  as  follows: 
"If  in  addition  to  the  taxes  mentioned  hi  the  above  article  the 
occupant  levies  other  moneyed  contributions  hi  the  occupied  terri- 
tory, they  shall  only  be  applied  to  the  needs  of  the  army,  or  of  the 
administration,  of  the  territory  in  question."  In  the  preceding 
article  it  says:  "If  hi  the  territory  occupied  the  occupant  collects 
the  taxes,  dues  and  tolls  payable  to  the  state,  he  shall  do  so  as 
far  as  possible  in  accordance  with  the  legal  basis  and  assessment 
hi  force  at  the  time,  and  shall  hi  consequence  be  bound  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  the  administration  of  the  occupied  territories  to 
the  same  extent  as  the  National  Government  had  been  so 
bound." 


184 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


The  $96,000,000  per  annum  was  more  than  six  tunes  the  amount 
of  the  direct  taxes  formerly  collected  by  the  Belgian  state,  taxes 
which  the  German  administration,  moreover,  collected  in  addition 
to  the  war  assessment.  It  was  five  times  as  great  as  the  ordinary 
expenditure  of  the  Belgian  War  Department. 


SCHLBSWIG-HOLSTEIN    AND    Al£ACE-LORRAINE    ACQUISITIONS 


But  this  was  not  all.  In  addition  to  the  more  or  less  legitimate 
German  methods  of  plunder  the  whole  country  had  been  pillaged. 
In  many  towns  systematic  pillage  began  as  soon  as  the  Germans 
took  possession.  At  Louvain  the  pillage  began  on  the  27th  of 
August,  1914,  and  lasted  a  week.  In  small  bands  the  soldiers 
went  from  house  to  house,  ransacked  drawers  and  cupboards, 
broke  open  safes,  and  stole  money,  pictures,  curios,  silver,  linen, 
clothing,  wines,  and  food.  Great  loads  of  such  plunder  were 


RESCUE  OF  THE  STARVING  185 

packed  on  military  baggage  wagons  and  sent  to  Germany.  The 
same  conditions  were  reported  from  town  after  town.  In  many 
cases  the  houses  were  burnt  to  destroy  the  proof  of  extensive  thefts. 

Nor  were  these  offenses  committed  only  by  the  common  sol- 
diers. In  many  cases  the  officers  themselves  sent  home  great 
collections  of  plunder.  Even  the  Royal  Family  were  concerned  in 
this  disgraceful  performance.  After  staying  for  a  week  in  a 
chateau  in  the  Liege  District,  His  Imperial  Highness,  Prince  Eitel 
Fritz,  and  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  had  all  the  dresses  which  were 
found  in  a  wardrobe  sent  back  to  Germany.  This  is  said  to  be 
susceptible  of  absolute  proof. 

In  addition  to  this  form  of  plunder  special  pretexts  were  made 
use  of  to  obtain  money.  At  Arlon  a  telephone  wire  was  broken, 
whereupon  the  town  was  given  four  hours  to  pay  a  fine  of  $20,000 
in  gold,  in  default  of  which  one  hundred  houses  would  be  sacked. 
When  the  payment  was  made  forty-seven  houses  had  already 
been  plundered.  Instance  after  instance  could  be  given  of  similar 
unjustifiable  and  exorbitant  fines. 

Under  treatment  like  this  Belgium  was  brought  in  a  short 
tune  into  immediate  sight  of  starvation.  They  made  frantic 
appeals  for  help.  First  they  appealed  to  the  Germans,  but  the 
German  authorities  did  nothing,  though  in  individual  cases  German 
soldiers  shared  their  army  rations  with  the  people.  Then  an 
appeal  was  made  to  Holland,  but  Holland  was  a  nation  much  like 
Belgium.  It  did  not  raise  food  enough  for  itself,  and  was  not  sure 
that  it  could  import  enough  for  its  own  needs. 

From  all  over  Belgium  appeals  were  sent  from  the  various 
towns  and  villages  to  Brussels.  But  Brussels,  too,  was  face  to 
face  with  famine.  To  cope  with  famine  there  were  many  relief 
organizations  in  Belgium.  Every  little  town  had  its  relief  com- 
mittee, and  in  the  larger  cities  strong  branches  of  the  Red  Cross 
did  what  they  could.  Besides  such  secular  organizations,  there 
were  many  religious  organizations,  generally  under  the  direction 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

In  Brussels  a  strong  volunteer  relief  organization  was  formed 
on  September  5th  under  the  patronage  of  the  American  and 
Spanish  Ministers,  Mr.  Brand  Whitlock  and  the  Marquis  of  Villa- 
lobar.  This  committee,  known  as  the  Central  Relief  Committee, 
or  more  exactly  La  Comite*  Central  de  Secours  et  d'Alimentation 


186  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

pour  1' Agglomeration  bruxelloise,  did  wonderful  work  until  the 
end  of  the  war.  But  though  there  was  plenty  of  organization 
there  were  great  difficulties  ahead. 

In  order  to  import  food,  credit  had  to  be  established  abroad, 
permission  had  to  be  obtained  to  transport  food  stuffs  into  Belgium 
through  the  British  blockade.  Permission  to  use  the  railroads 
and  canals  of  Belgium  had  to  be  obtained  from  Germany,  and, 
most  important  of  all,  it  had  to  be  made  certain  that  no  food  thus 
imported  should  be  seized  by  the  German  troops. 

Through  the  American  and  Spanish  ministers  permission  was 
obtained  from  Governor-General  Kolmar  von  der  Goltz  to  import 
food,  and  the  Governor-General  also  gave  assurance  that,  "Food- 
stuffs of  all  sorts  imported  by  the  committee  to  assist  the  civil 
population  shall  be  reserved  exclusively  for  the  nourishment  of  the 
civil  population  of  Belgium,  and  that  consequently  these  foodstuffs 
shall  be  exempt  from  requisition  on  the  part  of  the  military  author- 
ities, and  shall  rest  exclusively  at  the  disposition  of  the  committee." 

With  this  assurance  the  Central  Relief  Committee  sent  Emil 
Francqui  and  Baron  Lambert,  members  of  then*  committee,  together 
with  Mr.  Hugh  Gibson,  secretary  of  the  American  Legation,  whose 
activities  hi  behalf  of  Belgium  attracted  much  favorable  notice, 
to  the  city  of  London,  to  explain  to  the  British  Government  the 
suffering  that  existed  hi  Belgium,  and  to  obtain  permission  to 
transport  food  through  the  British  blockade.  In  the  course  of  this 
work  they  appealed  to  the  American  Ambassador  in  England,  Mr. 
Walter  Hines  Page,  and  were  introduced  by  him  to  an  American 
mining  engineer  named  Herbert  Clark  Hoover,  who  had  just  become 
prominent  as  the  chairman  of  a  committee  to  assist  Americans 
who  had  found  themselves  in  Europe  when  the  war  broke  out,  and 
had  been  unable  to  secure  funds. 

Mr.  Hoover  took  up  the  matter  with  great  vigor,  and  organized 
an  American  committee  under  the  patronage  of  the  ministers  of 
the  United  States  and  of  Spain  in  London,  Berlin,  The  Hague  and 
Brussels,  which  committee  obtained  permission  from  the  British 
Government  to  purchase  and  transport  through  the  British  blockade, 
to  Rotterdam,  Holland,  cargoes  of  foodstuffs,  to  be  ultimately 
transferred  into  Belgium  and  distributed  by  the  Belgian  Central 
Relief  Committee  under  the  direction  of  American  citizens  headed 
by  Mr.  Brand  Whitlock. 


AN  AIRPLANE  CONVOY 

Food  ships  successfully  convoyed  by  seaplanes  in  clear  weather  when  submarines 

were  easier  to  detect. 


RESCUE  OF  THE  STARVING  189 

The  following  brief  notices,  in  connection  with  this  committee 
appeared  in  the  London  Times: 

October  ,24  1914. — A  commission  has  been  set  up  in  London,  under 
the  title  of  The  American  Commission  for  Relief  in  Belgium.  The 
Brussels  committee  reports  feeding  300,000  daily. 

November  4. — The  Commission  for  Relief  in  Belgium  yesterday 
issued  their  first  weekly  report,  3  London  Wall  Buildings.  A  cargo  was 
received  yesterday  at  Brussels  just  in  time.  Estimated  monthly  require- 
ments, 60,000  tons  grain,  15,000  tons  maize,  3,000  tons  rice  and  peas. 
Approved  by  the  Spanish  and  American  ministers,  Brussels. 

The  personality  of  the  various  gentlemen  who  devoted  them- 
selves to  Belgian  relief  is  interesting,  not  only  because  of  what 
they  did,  but  because  they  are  unusual  men.  The  Spanish  Minister, 
who  bore  the  peculiar  name  of  Marquis  of  Villalobar  y  O'Neill, 
had  the  appearance  of  an  Irishman,  as  he  was  on  the  maternal  side, 
and  was  a  trained  diplomat,  with  delightful  manners  and  extraor- 
dinary strength  of  character.  Another  important  aid  in  the 
Belgian  relief  work  was  the  Mexican  Charge  d'Affaires  Sefior 
don  German  Bulle.  Hugh  Gibson,  secretary  of  the  American 
Legation,  wittily  described  this  gentleman  as  the  "representative  of 
a  country  without  a  government  to  a  government  without  a  coun- 
try." The  businessman  in  the  American  Legation  was  this  secre- 
tary. Mr.  Gibson  had  the  appearance  of  a  typical  Yankee,  though 
he  came  from  Indiana.  He  was  about  thirty  years  old,  with  dark 
eyes,  crisp  hair,  and  a  keen  face.  He  was  noted  for  his  wit  as  well 
as  his  courage.  Many  interesting  stories  are  told  of  him.  He  had 
been  often  under  fire,  and  he  was  full  of  stories  of  his  exploits 
told  in  a  witty  and  modest  way. 

The  following  incident  shows  something  of  his  humor.  Like 
most  of  the  Americans  in  Belgium  he  was  followed  by  spies.  With 
one  of  these  Gibson  became  on  the  most  familiar  terms,  much  to 
the  spy's  disgust.  One  very  rainy  day,  when  Gibson  was  at  the 
Legation,  he  discovered  his  pet  spy  standing  under  the  dripping 
eaves  of  a  neighboring  house.  Gibson  picked  up  a  raincoat  and 
hurried  over  to  the  man. 

"Look  here,  old  fellow,"  said  he,  "I'm  going  to  be  in  the 
Legation  for  three  hours.  You  put  on  this  coat  and  go  home. 
Come  back  in  three  hours  and  I'll  let  you  watch  me  for  the  rest  of 
the  dav." 


190  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Mr.  Brand  Whitlock,  the  American  Minister,  was  a  remarkable 
man.  Before  coming  to  Belgium  he  had  become  a  distinguished  man 
of  letters.  Beginning  as  a  newspaper  reporter  in  Chicago,  he  had 
studied  law  and  been  admitted  to  the  Illinois  Bar  in  1894,  and  to 
the  Bar  of  the  State  of  Ohio  hi  1897.  He  had  entered  into  politics, 
and  been  elected  mayor  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  in  1905,  again  hi  1907, 
1909  and  1911.  Meanwhile  he  had  been  writing  novels,  "The 
Thirteenth  District,"  "The  Turn  of  the  Balance,"  "The  Fall  Guy," 
and  "Forty  Years  of  It."  He  had  accepted  the  appointment  of 
American  Minister  to  Belgium  with  the  idea  that  he  would  find 
leisure  for  other  literary  work,  but  the  outbreak  of  the  war  affected 
him  deeply.  A  man  of  a  sympathetic  character  who  had  lived  all 
his  life  hi  an  amiable  atmosphere,  had  been  a  member  of  prison 
reform  associations  and  charitable  societies,  he  now  found  him- 
self surrounded  by  a  storm  of  horrors.  Day  by  day  he  had  to  see 
the  distress  and  suffering  of  thousands  of  people.  He  threw  him- 
self at  once  into  the  work  of  relief.  His  health  was  not  strong  and 
he  always  looked  tired  and  worn.  He  was  the  scholarly  type  of 
man,  the  kind  who  would  be  happy  in  a  library,  or  in  the  atmosphere 
of  a  college,  but  he  rose  to  the  emergency. 

The  American  Legation  became  the  one  staple  point  around 
which  the  starving  and  suffering  population  could  rally.  Belgians 
will  never  forget  what  he  did  hi  those  days.  On  Washington's 
Birthday  they  filed  before  the  door  of  the  American  Legation  at 
Number  74  Rue  de  Treves,  men,  women  and  children  of  all  classes; 
some  in  furs,  some  hi  the  garments  of  the  poor;  noblemen,  scholars, 
workmen,  artists,  shopkeepers  and  peasants  to  leave  their  visiting 
cards,  some  engraved,  some  printed  and  some  written  on  pieces  of 
paper,  hi  tribute  to  Mr.  Whitlock  and  the  nation  which  he 
represented. 

But  the  man  whose  name  stands  out  above  all  others  as  one 
of  the  biggest  figures  in  connection  with  the  work  of  relief  was 
Mr.  Herbert  C.  Hoover.  Mr.  Hoover  came  of  Quaker  stock. 
He  was  born  at  West  Branch,  Iowa,  hi  1874,  graduated  from 
Leland  Stanford  University  hi  1895,  specialized  in  mining  engineer- 
ing, and  spent  several  years  hi  mining  in  the  United  States  and 
in  Australia.  He  married  Miss  Lou  Henry,  of  Monterey,  California, 
)9,  and  with  his  bride  went  to  China  as  chief  engineer  of 
the  Chinese  Imperial  Bureau  of  Mines.  He  aided  in  the  defense 


RESCUE  OF  THE  STARVING  191 

of  Tientsin  during  the  Boxer  Rebellion.  After  that  he  continued 
engineering  work  in  China  until  1902,  when  he  became  a  partner 
of  the  firm  of  Bewick,  Moreing  &  Co.,  mine  operators,  of  London, 
and  was  consulting  engineer  for  more  than  fifty  mining  companies. 
He  looked  extremely  youthful;  smooth  shaven,  with  a  straight 
nose,  and  a  strong  mouth  and  chin.  To  him,  more  than  any  one 
else,  was  due  the  creation  and  the  success  of  the  Commission  for 
Relief  hi  Belgium.  The  splendid  organization  which  saved  from 
so  much  suffering  more  than  seven  million  non-combatants  in 
Belgium  and  two  million  in  Northern  France,  was  his  achievement. 

A  good  story  is  told  in  the  Outlook  of  September  8,  1915,  which 
illustrates  his  methods.  It  seems  that  before  the  commission  was 
fairly  on  its  feet,  there  came  a  day  when  it  was  a  case  of  snarling 
things  hi  red  tape  and  letting  Belgium  starve,  or  getting  food  shipped 
and  letting  governments  howl.  Hoover  naturally  chose  the  latter. 

When  the  last  bag  had  been  stowed  and  the  hatches  were 
battened  down  (writes  Mr.  Lewis  R.  Freeman,  who  tells  the  story), 
Hoover  went  hi  person  to  the  one  Cabinet  Minister  able  to  arrange 
for  the  only  things  he  could  not  provide  for  himself — clearance 
papers. 

"If  I  do  not  get  four  cargoes  of  food  to  Belgium  by  the  end 
of  the  week,"  he  said  bluntly,  "thousands  are  going  to  die  from 
starvation,  and  many  more  may  be  shot  in  food  riots." 

"Out  of  the  question,"  said  the  distinguished  Minister;  "there 
is  no  tune,  in  the  first  place,  and  if  there  was,  there  are  no  good 
wagons  to  be  spared  by  the  railways,  no  dock  hands,  and  no 
steamers.  Moreover,  the  Channel  is  closed  for  a  week  to  merchant 
vessels,  while  troops  are  being  transferred  to  the  Continent." 

"I  have  managed  to  get  all  these  things,"  Hoover  replied 
quietly,  "and  am  now  through  with  them  all,  except  the  steamers. 
This  wire  tells  me  that  these  are  now  loaded  and  ready  to  sail, 
and  I  have  come  to  have  you  arrange  for  then:  clearance." 

The  great  man  gasped.  "There  have  been — there  are  even 
now — men  in  the  Tower  for  less  than  you  have  done!"  he  ejaculated. 
"If  it  was  for  anything  but  Belgium  Relief — if  it  was  anybody 
but  you,  young  man — I  should  hate  to  think  of  what  might  happen. 
As  it  is — er — I  suppose  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  congratulate 
you  on  a  jolly  clever  coup.  I'll  see  about  the  clearance  at  once." 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  tells  the  following  story:  It  seems  that  the 


192  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Commission  on  Belgian  Relief  was  attempting  to 'simplify  its  work 
by  arranging  for  an  extension  of  exchange  facilities  on  Brussels. 
Mr.  Lloyd  George,  then  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  sent  for 
Hoover.  What  happened  is  told  in  Mr.  George's  words: 

'"Mr.  Hoover,'  I  said,  'I  find  I  am  quite  unable  to  grant  your 
request  in  the  matter  of  Belgian  exchange,  and  I  have  asked  you 
to  come  here  that  I  might  explain  why.' 

"Without  waiting  for  me  to  go  on,  my  boyish-looking  caller 
began  speaking.  For  fifteen  minutes  he  spoke  without  a  break- 
just  about  the  clearest  expository  utterance  I  have  ever  heard 
on  any  subject.  He  used  not  a  word  too  much,  nor  yet  a  word 
too  few.  By  the  tune  he  had  finished  I  had  come  to  realize,  not 
only  the  importance  of  his  contentions,  but,  what  was  more  to  the 
point,  the  practicability  of  granting  his  request.  So  I  did  the  only 
thing  possible  under  the  circumstance,  told  him  I  had  never  under- 
stood the  question  before,  thanked  him  for  helping  me  to  under- 
stand, and  saw  to  it  that  things  were  arranged  as  he  wanted  them." 

On  April  10,  1915,  a  submarine  torpedoed  one  of  the  food 
ships  chartered  by  the  commission.  A  week  later  a  German  hydro- 
airplane  tried  to  drop  bombs  on  the  deck  of  another  commission 
ship.  So  Hoover  paid  a  flying  visit  to  Berlin.  He  was  at  once 
assured  that  no  more  incidents  of  the  sort  would  occur. 

"Thanks,"  said  Hoover.  "Your  Excellency,  have  you  heard 
the  story  of  the  man  who  was  nipped  by  a  bad-tempered  dog? 
He  went  to  the  owner  to  have  the  dog  muzzled.  'But  the  dog 
won't  bite  you/  insisted  the  owner.  'You  know  he  won't  bite 
me,  and  I  know  he  won't  bite  me,'  said  the  injured  party  doubt- 
fully, 'but  the  question  is,  does  the  dog  know?'  " 

"Herr  Hoover,"  said  the  high  official,  "pardon  me  if  I  leave 
you  for  a  moment.  I  am  going  at  once  to  'let  the  dog  know.'  " 

This  story,  which  is  told  by  Mr.  Edward  Eyre  Hunt  in  his 
delightful  book  about  Belgium,  "War  Bread,"  may  be  apocryphal, 
but  it  illustrates  well  Hoover's  habit  of  getting  exactly  what  he 
wants. 

When  Mr.  Hoover  accepted  the  chairmanship  of  the  Commis- 
sion for  Relief  in  Belgium  he  established  his  headquarters  at  3 
London  Wall  Buildings,  London.  England,  and  marshaled  a  small 
legion  of  fellow  Americans,  business  men,  sanitary  experts,  doctors 
and  social  workers,  who,  as  unpaid  volunteers,  set  about  the  great 


RESCUE  OF  THE  STARVING  193 

task  of  feeding  the  people  of  Belgium  and  Northern  France.  The 
commission  soon  became  a  great  institution,  recognized  by  all 
governments,  receiving  contributions  from  all  parts  of  the  earth, 
with  its  own  ships  in  every  big  port,  and  in  the  eyes  of  the  Belgians 
and  French,  who  received  their  daily  bread  through  its  agency, 
a  monument  of  what  Americans  could  do  in  social  organization 
and  business  efficiency,  for  Americans  furnished  the  entire  per- 
sonnel of  the  commission  from  the  beginning. 

The  commission  was  a  distinct  organization  from  the  Belgian 
National  Committee,  through  and  with  which  it  worked  in  Belgium 
itself.  Its  functions  were  those  of  direction,  and  supervision  of  all 
matters  that  had  to  be  dealt  with  outside  Belgium.  In  the  occupied 
territories  it  had  the  help  of  thousands  of  Belgian  and  French 
workers,  many  of  them  women. 

The  commission  did  not  depend,  according  to  Mr.  Hoover, 
on  any  one  of  its  American  members  for  leadership.  Any  one  of 
them  could  at  any  time  take  charge  and  carry  on  the  work. 
"Honold,  Poland,  Gregory,  Brown,  Kellogg,  Lucey,  White,  Hun- 
siker,  Connet,  and  many  others  who,  at  various  periods,  have  given 
of  their  great  ability  and  experience  in  administration  could  do  it." 
At  the  same  time  it  was  admitted  that  the  commission  would 
never  have  been  so  successful  if  Belgium  had  not  already  had  in 
existence  a  well-developed  communal  system.  The  base  of  the 
commission's  organization  was  a  committee  in  every  commune 
or  municipality. 

"You  can  have  no  idea  what  a  great  blessing  it  was  in  Belgium 
and  Northern  France  to  have  the  small  and  intimate  divisions 
which  exist  under  the  communal  system,"  said  Mr.  Hoover.  "It 
is  the  whole  unit  of  life,  and  a  political  entity  much  more  developed 
than  in  America.  It  has  been  not  only  the  basis  of  our  relief 
organization,  but  the  salvation  of  the  people." 

Altogether  there  were  four  thousand  communal  committees, 
linked  up  hi  larger  groups  under  district  and  provincial  committees, 
which  in  turn  came  under  the  Belgian  National  Committee.  Con- 
tributions were  received  from  all  over  the  world,  but  the  greater 
part  from  the  British  and  French  governments. 

When  Mr.  Hoover  began  his  work  he  appealed  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  but  the  American  response  to  the  appeal 
was  sadly  disappointing.  During  his  stay  in  America,  in  the  early 


194  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

part  of  1917,  Mr.  Hoover  expressed  himself  on  the  subject  of  his 
own  country's  niggardliness,  pointing  out  at  the  same  tune  that 
the  chief  profits  made  out  of  providing  food  for  Belgium  had  gone 
into  American  pockets.  Out  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
of  dollars  spent  by  the  commission  at  that  tune,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  had  been  used  hi  the  United  States  to  purchase  supplies 
and  on  these  orders  America  had  made  a  war  profit  of  at  least 
thirty  million  dollars.  Yet  hi  those  two  years  the  American  people 
had  contributed  only  nine  million  dollars! 

Mr.  Hoover  declared:  "Thousands  of  contributions  have 
come  to  us  from  devoted  people  all  over  the  United  States,  but 
the  truth  is  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  large  gifts,  American 
contributions  have  been  little  rills  of  charity  of  the  poor  toward 
the  poor.  Everywhere  abroad  America  has  been  getting  the 
credit  for  keeping  alight  the  lamp  of  humanity,  but  what  are  the 
facts?  America's  contributions  have  been  pitifully  inadequate 
and,  do  not  forget  it,  other  peoples  have  begun  to  take  stock  of 
us.  We  have  been  getting  all  the  credit.  Have  we  deserved  it? 
We  lay  claim  to  idealism,  to  devotion  to  duty  and  to  great  benevo- 
lence, but  now  the  acid  test  is  being  applied  to  us.  This  has  a 
wider  import  than  mere  figures.  Tune  and  tune  again,  when  the 
door  to  Belgium  threatened  to  close,  we  have  defended  its  portals 
by  the  assertion  that  this  was  an  American  enterprise;  that  the 
sensibilities  of  the  American  people  would  be  wounded  beyond 
measure,  would  be  outraged,  if  this  work  were  interfered  with. 
Our  moral  strength  has  been  based  upon  this  assertion.  I  believe 
it  is  true,  but  it  is  difficult  in  the  face  of  the  figures  to  carry  con- 
viction. And  in  the  last  six  or  eight  months  time  and  again  we 
have  felt  our  influence  slip  from  under  us."  ( 

The  statement  that  Germans  had  taken  food  intended  for 
the  Belgians  was  disposed  of  by  Mr.  Hoover  in  a  speech  in  New 
York  City.  "We  are  satisfied,"  he  said,  "that  the  German  army 
has  never  eaten  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent  of  the  food  provided. 
The  Allied  governments  never  would  have  supplied  us  with  two 
hundred  million  dollars  if  we  were  supplying  the  German  army. 
If  the  Germans  had  absorbed  any  considerable  quantity  of  this 
food  the  population  of  Belgium  would  not  be  alive  today." 

The  plan  of  operation  of  the  Belgian  Commission  needs  some 
description.  Besides  the  headquarters  in  London  there  was  an 


RESCUE  OF  THE  STARVING  195 

office  in  Brussels,  and,  as  Rotterdam  was  the  port  of  entry  for  all 
Belgian  supplies,  a  transshipping  office  for  commission  goods 
was  opened  in  that  city.  The  office  building  was  at  98  Haring- 
vliet,  formerly  the  residence  of  a  Dutch  merchant  prince. 

Captain  J.  F.  Lucey,  the  first  Rotterdam  director,  sat  in  a 
roomy  office  on  the  second  floor  overlooking  the  Meuse.  From 
his  windows  he  could  see  the  commission  barges  as  they  left  for 
Belgium,  then*  huge  canvas  flags  bearing  the  inscription  "Belgian 
Relief  Committee."  He  was  a  nervous,  big,  beardless  American, 
a  volunteer  who  had  left  his  business  to  organize  and  direct  a 
great  transshipping  office  in  an  alien  land  for  an  alien  people. 

Out  of  nothing  he  created  a  large  staff  of  clerks,  wrung  from 
the  Dutch  Government  special  permits,  loaded  the  immense  cargoes 
received  from  England  into  canal  boats,  obtained  passports  for 
cargoes  and  crews,  and  shipped  the  foodstuffs  consigned  personally 
to  Mr.  Brand  Whitlock. 

Something  of  what  was  done  at  this  point  may  be  understood 
from  a  reference  hi  the  first  annual  report  of  the  commission  pub- 
lished October  31,  1915: 

The  chartering  and  management  of  an  entire  fleet  of  vessels,  together 
with  agency  control  practically  throughout  the  world,  has  been  carried 
out  for  the  commission  quite  free  of  the  usual  charges  by  large  trans- 
portation firms  who  offered  these  concessions  in  the  cause  of  humanity. 
Banks  generally  have  given  their  exchange  services  and  have  paid  the 
full  rate  of  interest  on  deposits.  Insurance  has  been  facilitated  by  the 
British  Government  Insurance  Commissioners,  and  the  firms  who  fixed 
the  insurance  have  subscribed  the  equivalent  of  their  fees.  Harbor  dues 
and  port  charges  have  been  remitted  at  many  points  and  stevedoring 
firms  have  made  important  concessions  hi  rates  and  have  afforded  other 
generous  services.  In  Holland,  exemption  from  harbor  dues  and  tele- 
graph tolls  has  been  granted  and  rail  transport  into  Belgium  provided 
free  of  charge.  The  total  value  of  these  Dutch  concessions  is  estimated 
at  147,824  guilders.  The  German  military  authorities  in  Belgium  have 
abolished  custom  and  canal  dues  on  all  commission  imports,  have  reduced 
railway  rates  one-half  and  on  canals  and  railways  they  give  right  of  way 
to  commission  foodstuffs  wherever  there  is  need. 

By  mid-November  gift  ships  from  the  United  States  were 
on  their  way  to  Rotterdam,  but  the  Canadian  province  of  Nova 
Scotia  was  first  hi  the  transatlantic  race. 

One  of  the  most  thrilling  experiences  of  the  first  year's  work 
was  the  coming  of  the  Christmas  ship,  a  steamer  full  of  Christmas 


196  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

gifts  presented  by  the  children  of  America  to  the  children  of  war- 
ridden  Belgium.  The  children  knew  all  about  It  long  before  the 
ship  arrived  in  Rotterdam.  St.  Nicholas'  day  had  brought  them 
few  presents.  They  were  hungry  for  friendliness,  and  the  thought 
of  getting  gifts  from  children  across  the  sea  filled  them  with  joy. 

Many  difficulties  arose,  which  delayed  the  distribution  of 
these  gifts.  The  Germans  insisted  that  every  package  should  be 
opened  and  every  scrap  of  writing  taken  out  before  the  gifts  were 
sent  into  Belgium.  This  was  a  tremendous  task,  for  notes  written 
by  American  children  were  tucked  away  into  all  sorts  of  impos- 
sible places. 

Three  motor  boats  made  an  attempt  to  carry  these  gifts  into 
Belgium  by  Christmas  day.  They  carried  boxes  of  clothing,  out- 
fits for  babies,  blankets,  caps,  bonnets,  cloaks,  shoes  of  every 
description,  babies'  boots,  candy,  fish,  striped  candy  canes,  choco- 
lates and  mountains  of  nuts,  nuts  such  as  the  Belgians  had  never 
Been  in  their  lives  before:  pecans,  hickory  nuts,  American  walnuts, 
and  peanuts  galore.  There  were  scores  of  dolls,  French  bisques, 
smiling  pleasantly,  pop-eyed  rag  dolls,  old  darky  mammy  dolls, 
and  Santa  Clauses,  teddy  bears,  picture  books,  fairy  books  and 
story  books. 

One  child  had  written  on  the  cover  of  her  book:  "Father 
says  I  ought  to  send  you  my  best  picture  book,  but  I  think  that 
this  one  will  do." 

These  gifts  made  the  American  aid  to  Belgium  a  thousand 
times  more  intimate  and  real,  and  never  after  that  was  American 
help  thought  of  in  other  terms  than  those  of  burning  gratitude. 
Among  these  gifts  were  hundreds  of  American  flags,  which  soon 
became  familiar  to  all  Belgium. 

The  commission  automobiles  bore  the  flag,  and  the  children 
would  recognize  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  wave  and  cheer  as  it 
went  by.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  gifts  to  the  Belgian  people 
followed  the  Christmas  ship.  All,  or  a  great  part,  of  the  cargoes 
of  one  hundred  and  two  ships  consisted  of  gift  goods  from  America 
and  indeed  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  the  Belgians  sent  back 
a  flood  of  acknowledgments  and  thousands  of  beautiful  souvenirs. 
Some  of  the  most  touching  remembrances  came  from  the  children. 
Every  child  in  the  town  of  Tamise,  for  example,  wrote  a  letter  to 
America. 


RESCUE  OF  THE   STARVING  197 

One  addressed  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  reads  as 
follows: 

Highly  Honored  Mr.  President:  Although  I  am  still  very  young  I 
feel  already  that  feeling  of  thankfulness  which  we,  as  Belgians,  owe  to 
you,  Highly  Honored  Mr.  President,  because  you  have  come  to  our  help 
in  these  dreary  times.  Without  your  help  there  would  certainly  have 
been  thousands  of  war  victims,  and  so,  Noble  Sir,  I  pray  that  God  will 
bless  you  and  all  the  noble  American  people.  That  is  the  wish  of  all  the 
Belgian  folk. 

On  New  Year's  day  Cardinal  Mercier,  Archbishop  of  Malines, 
issued  his  famous  pastoral: 

Belgium  gave  her  word  of  honor  to  defend  her  independence.  She 
has  kept  her  word.  The  other  powers  had  agreed  to  protect  and  to 
respect  Belgium's  neutrality.  Germany  has  broken  her  word,  England 
has  been  faithful  to  it.  These  are  the  facts.  I  consider  it  an  obligation 
of  my  pastoral  charge  to  define  to  you  your  conscientious  duties  toward 
the  power  which  has  invaded  our  soil,  and  which  for  the  moment  occupies 
the  greater  part-  of  it.  This  power  has  no  authority,  and,  therefore,  in  the 
depth  of  your  heart,  you  should  render  it  neither  esteem,  nor  attachment, 
nor  respect.  The  only  legitimate  power  in  Belgium  is  that  which  belongs 
to  our  King,  to  his  government,  to  the  representatives  of  the  nation; 
that  alone  is  authority  for  us;  that  alone  has  a  right  to  our  heart's 
affection  and  to  our  submission. 

Cardinal  Mercier  was  called  the  bravest  man  in  Belgium. 
Six  feet  five  in  height,  a  thin,  scholarly  face,  with  grayish  white 
hair,  and  a  forehead  so  white  that  one  feels  one  looks  on  the  naked 
bone,  he  presented  the  appearance  of  some  medieval  ascetic.  But 
there  was  a  humorous  look  about  his  mouth,  and  an  expression  of 
sympathy  and  comprehension  which  gave  the  effect  of  a  keenly 
intelligent,  as  well  as  gentle,  leader  of  the  nation. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  Roman  Catholic  party  was 
divided.  Some  of  its  leaders  were  opposed  to  resistance  to  the 
invaders.  Many  priests  fled  before  the  German  armies.  But  the 
pastoral  letter  of  Cardinal  Mercier  restored  to  the  Church  its  old 
leadership.  In  him  conquered  Belgium  had  found  a  voice. 

On  New  Year's  Sunday,  1915,  every  priest  at  the  Mass  read 
out  the  Cardinal's  ringing  challenge.  There  were  German  soldiers 
in  the  churches,  but  no  word  of  the  letter  had  been  allowed  to 
reach  the  ears  of  the  authorities,  and  the  Germans  were  taken  com- 
pletely by  surprise.  Immediately  orders  came  from  headquarters 


198  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

prohibiting  further  circulation  of  the  letter,  and  ordering  that 
every  copy  should  be  surrendered  to  the  authorities.  Soldiers 
at  the  bayonet's  point  extorted  the  letter  from  the  priests,  and 
those  who  had  read  it  were  put  under  arrest.  Yet,  somehow,  copies 
of  the  letter  were  circulated  throughout  Belgium,  and  every  Belgian 
took  new  heart. 

As  far  as  the  Cardinal  was  concerned  German  action  was  a 
very  delicate  matter.  They  could  not  arrest  and  imprison  so  great 
a  dignitary  of  the  Church  for  fear  of  the  effect,  not  only  upon  the 
Catholics  of  the  outer  world,  but  on  the  Catholics  in  their  own 
empire.  An  officer  was  sent  to  the  Cardinal  to  demand  that  the 
letter  be  recalled.  The  Cardinal  refused.  He  was  then  notified 
that  it  was  desired  that  he  remain  in  his  palace  for  the  present. 
His  confinement  lasted  only  for  a  day. 

The  Americans  who  were  in  Belgium  as  representatives  of  the 
Relief  Commission  had  two  duties.  First,  to  see  that  the  Germans 
did  not  seize  any  of  the  food  supplies,  and  second,  to  see  that  every 
Belgian  who  was  in  need  should  receive  his  daily  bread.  The 
ration  assigned  to  each  Belgian  was  250  grams  of  bread  per  day. 
This  seems  rather  small,  but  the  figure  was  established  by  Horace 
Fletcher,  the  American  food  expert,  who  was  one  of  the  members; 
of  the  commission. 

Mr.  Fletcher  also  prepared  a  pamphlet  on  food  values,  which: 
gave  recipes  for  American  dishes  which  were  up  to  that  time  un- 
known to  the  Belgians.  He  soon  got  not  only  the  American  but  the 
Blegian  committeemen  talking  of  calories  with  great  familiarity. 

Some  of  the  foods  sent  from  America  were  at  first  almost 
useless  to  the  Belgians.  They  did  not  know  how  to  cook  corn- 
meal  and  oatmeal,  and  some  of  the  famished  peasants  used  them 
as  feed  for  chickens.  Teachers  had  to  be  sent  out  through  the 
villages  to  give  instructions. 

A  great  deal  of  difficulty  developed  in  connection  with  the 
bread.  The  supply  of  white  flour  was  limited;  wheat  had  to  be 
imported,  and  milled  hi  Belgium.  It  was  milled  so  as  to  contain  all 
the  bran  except  ten  per  cent,  but  in  some  places  ten  or  fifteen  per 
cent  of  cornmeal  was  added  to  the  flour,  not  only  to  enable  the 
commission  to  provide  the  necessary  ration,  but  also  to  keep  down 
the  price.  As  a  result  the  price  of  bread  was  always  lower  in 
Belgium  than  in  London,  Paris  or  New  York. 


RESCUE  OF  THE  STARVING  199 

Much  less  trouble  occurred  in  connection  with  the  distribu- 
tion of  bread  and  soup  from  the  soup  kitchens.  In  Antwerp 
thirty-five  thousand  men  were  fed  daily  at  these  places.  At  first 
it  often  occurred  that  soup  could  be  had,  but  no  bread.  The 
ration  of  soup  and  bread  given  in  the  kitchens  cost  about  ten  cents 
a  day.  There  were  four  varieties  of  soup,  pea,  bean,  vegetable 
and  bouillon,  and  it  was  of  excellent  quality.  Every  person  carried 
a  card  with  blank  spaces  for  the  date  of  the  deliveries  of  soup. 
There  were  several  milk  kitchens  maintained  for  the  children, 
and  several  restaurants  where  persons  with  money  might  obtain 
their  food. 

It  was  necessary  not  only  to  fight  starvation  in  Belgium  but  also 
disease.  There  were  epidemics  of  typhoid  and  black  measles. 
The  Rockefeller  Foundation  established  a  station  in  Rotterdam 
called  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  War  Relief  Commission,  and 
some  of  the  women  among  its  workers  acted  as  volunteer  health 
officers.  People  were  inoculated  against  typhoid,  and  the  sources 
of  infection  traced  and  destroyed.  Another  form  of  relief  work 
was  providing  labor  for  the  unemployed.  A  plan  of  relief  was 
drawn  up  and  it  was  arranged  that  a  large  portion  of  them  should 
be  employed  by  the  communal  organizations,  hi  public  works, 
such  as  draining,  ditching,  constructing  embankments  and  build- 
ing sewers.  The  National  Committee  paid  nine-tenths  of  the 
wages,  the  commune  paying  the  other  teoth.  The  first  enrol- 
ment of  unemployed  amounted  to  more  than  760,000  names,  and 
nearly  as  many  persons  were  dependent  upon  these  workers. 

Providing  employment  for  these  led  to  certain  complications. 
The  Germans  had  been  able  up  to  this  tune  to  secure  a  certain 
amount  of  labor  from  the  Belgians.  Now  the  Belgian  could  refuse 
to  work  for  the  German,  and  a  great  deal  of  tact  was  necessary 
to  prevent  trouble.  As  time  went  on  the  relief  work  of  the  com- 
mission was  extended  into  the  north  of  France,  where  a  population 
of  more  than  2,000,000  was  within  the  German  zone.  The  work 
was  handled  in  the  same  way,  with  the  same  guarantees  from 
Germany. 

In  conclusion  a  word  may  be  said  of  the  effect  of  all  this  suffer- 
ing upon  the  Belgian  people,  and  let  a  Belgian  speak,  who  knew 
his  country  well  and  had  traveled  it  over,  going  on  foot,  as  he 
says,  or  by  tram,  from  town  to  town,  from  village  to  village: 


200  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

"I  have  seen  and  spoken  with  hundreds  of  men  of  all  classes 
and  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  all  these  people,  taken  singly  or 
united  in  groups,  display  a  very  definite  frame  of  mind.  To 
describe  this  new  psychology  we  must  record  the  incontestably 
closer  union  which  has  been  formed  between  the  political  sections 
of  the  country.  There  are  no  longer  any  political  parties,  there 
are  Belgians  hi  Belgium,  and  that  is  all;  Belgians  better  acquainted 
with  their  country,  feeling  for  it  an  impulse  of  passionate  tender- 
ness such  as  a  child  might  feel  who  saw  his  mother  suffering  for 
the  first  tune,  and  on  his  account.  Walloons  and  Flemings, 
Catholics  and  Liberals  or  Socialists,  all  are  more  and  more  frankly 
united  in  all  that  concerns  the  national  life  and  decisions  for  the 
future. 

"By  uniting  the  whole  nation  and  its  army,  by  shedding  the 
blood  of  all  our  Belgians  in  every  corner  of  the  country,  by  forcing 
all  hearts,  all  families,  to  follow  with  anguish  the  movement  of 
those  soldiers  who  fought  from  Lie*ge  to  Namur,  from  Wavre  to 
Antwerp  or  the  Oise,  the  war  has  suddenly  imposed  wider  horizons 
upon  all,  has  inspired  all  minds  with  noble  and  ardent  passions, 
has  compelled  the  good  will  of  all  to  combine  and  act  in  concert 
in  order  to  defend  the  common  interests. 

"Of  these  profoundly  tried  minds,  of  these  wonderful  energies 
now  employed  for  the  first  tune,  of  these  atrocious  sufferings  which 
have  brought  all  hearts  into  closer  contact,  a  new  Belgium  is  born, 
a  greater,  more  generous,  more  ideal  Belgium." 


CHAPTER    XIII 
BRITANNIA  RULES  THE  WAVES 

THE  month  of  October,  1914,  contained  no  important  naval 
contests.     On  the  15th,  the  old  British  cruiser  Hawke  was 
torpedoed  in  the  North  Sea  and  nearly  five  hundred  men 
were  lost.     On  the  other  hand,  on  the  17th  of  October,  the 
light  cruiser  Undaunted,  accompanied  by  the  destroyers,  Lance, 
Legion  and  Loyal,  sank  four  German  destroyers  off  the  Dutch  coast. 
But  the  opening  of  November  turned  the  interest  of  the  navy  to 
the  Southern  Pacific.     When  the  war  began  Admiral  von  Spee, 
with  the  German  Pacific  squadron,  was  at  Kiaochau  in  command  of 
seven  vessels.      Among  these  was  the  Emden,  whose  adventurous 
career  has  been  already  described.      Another,  the  Karlsruhe,  be- 
came a  privateer  in  the  South  Atlantic. 

Early  in  August  von  Spee  set  sail  from  Kiaochau  with  two 
armored  cruisers,  the  Gneisenau  and  the  Scharnhorst  and  three 
light  cruisers,  the  Dresden,  Leipzig  and  Nurmberg.  These  ships 
were  comparatively  new,  well  armed,  and  of  considerable  speed. 
They  set  off  for  the  great  trade  highways  to  destroy,  as  far  as 
possible,  British  commerce.  Their  route  led  them  to  the  western 
coast  of  South  America,  and  arrangements  were  made  so  that  they 
were  coaled  and  provisioned  from  bases  in  some  of  the  South 
American  states  which  permitted  a  slack  observance  of  the  laws 
respecting  the  duties  of  neutrals. 

A  small  British  squadron  had  been  detailed  to  protect  British 
commerce  in  this  part  of  the  world.  It  was  commanded  by  Rear- 
Admiral  Sir  Christopher  Cradock,  a  distinguished  and  popular 
sailor,  who  had  under  his  command  one  twelve-year-old  battleship, 
the  Canopus,  two  armored  cruisers,  the  Good  Hope  and  the 
Monmouth,  the  light  cruiser  Glasgow,  and  an  armed  liner,  the 
Otranto.  None  of  these  vessels  had  either  great  speed  or  heavy 
armament.  The  equipment  of  the  Canopus,  indeed,  was  obsolete. 
Admiral  Cradock's  squadron  arrived  at  Halifax  on  August  14th, 
thence  sailed  to  Bermuda,  then  on  past  Venezuela  and  Brazil 

201 


202  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

around  the  Horn.  It  visited  the  Falkland  Islands,  and  by  the 
third  week  of  October  was  on  the  coast  of  Chile.  The  Canopua  had 
dropped  behind  for  repairs,  and  though  reinforcements  were 
expected,  they  had  not  yet  arrived. 

One  officer  wrote,  on  the  12th  of  October,  "From  now  till  the 
end  of  the  month  is  the  critical  tune,  as  it  will  decide  whether  we 
shall  have  to  fight  a  superior  German  force  from  the  Pacific  before 
we  can  get  reinforcements  from  home  or  the  Mediterranean.  We 
feel  that  the  admiralty  ought  to  have  a  better  force  here,  but  we 
shall  fight  cheerfully  whatever  odds  we  have  to  face." 

Admiral  Cradock  knew  well  that  his  enemy  was  superior  in 
force.  From  Coronel,  where  he  sent  off  some  cables,  he  went 
north  on  the  first  of  November,  and  about  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  the  Glasgow  sighted  the  enemy.  The  two  big  German 
armored  cruisers  were  leading  the  way,  and  two  light  cruisers  were 
following  close.  The  German  cruiser  Leipzig  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  in  company.  The  British  squadron  was  led  by  the 
Good  Hope,  with  the  Monmouth,  Glasgow  and  Otranto  following 
in  order.  It  was  a  beautiful  spectacle.  The  sun  was  setting  in  the 
wonderful  glory  which  one  sees  in  the  Pacific,  and  the  British  ships, 
west  of  the  German,  must  have  appeared  to  them  in  brilliant  colors. 
On  the  east  were  the  snowy  peaks  of  the  Andes.  Half  a  gale  was 
blowing  and  the  two  squadrons  moved  south  at  great  speed.  About 
seven  o'clock  they  were  about  seven  miles  apart  and  the  Scharnhorstr 
which  was  leading  the  German  fleet,  opened  fire.  At  this  time  the 
Germans  were  shaded  by  the  inshore  twilight,  but  the  British  ships 
must  have  showed  up  plainly  in  the  afterglow.  The  enemy  fired 
with  great  accuracy.  Shell  after  shell  hit  the  Good  Hope  and  the 
Monmouth,  but  the  bad  light  and  inferior  guns  saved  the  German 
ships  from  much  damage.  The  Good  Hope  was  set  on  fire  and  at 
7.50  exploded  and  sank.  The  Monmouth  was  also  on  fire, 
and  turned  away  to  the  western  sea.  The  Glasgow  had  escaped  so* 
far,  but  the  whole  German  squadron  bore  down  upon  her.  She; 
turned  and  fled  and  by  nine  o'clock  was  out  of  sight  of  the  enemy.. 
The  Otranto,  only  an  armed  liner,  had  disappeared  early  in  the 
fight.  On  the  following  day  the  Glasgow  worked  around  to  the 
south,  and  joined  the  Canopus,  and  the  two  proceeded  to  the 
traits  of  the  Magellan.  The  account  of  this  battle  by  the  German 
Admiral  von  Spec  is  of  especial  interest: 


BRITANNIA  RULES  THE  WAVES  203 

"Wind  and  swell  were  head  on,  and  the  vessels  had  heavy 
.•going,  especially  the  small  cruisers  on  both  sides.  Observation  and 
-distance  estimation  were  under  a  severe  handicap  because  of  the 
;seas  which  washed  over  the  bridges.  The  swell  was  so  great  that 
it  obscured  the  aim  of  the  gunners  at  the  six-inch  guns  on  the 
middle  deck,  who  could  not  see  the  sterns  of  the  enemy  ships  at  all, 
and  the  bows  but  seldom.  At  6.20  p.  M.,  at  a  distance  of  13,400 
yards,  I  turned  one  point  toward  the  enemy,  and  at  6.34  opened 
fire  at  a  distance  of  11,260  yards.  The  guns  of  both  our  armored 
cruisers  were  effective,  and  at  6.39  already  we  could  note  the  first  hit 
on  the  Good  Hope.  I  at  once  resumed  a  parallel  course,  instead 
of  bearing  slightly  toward  the  enemy.  The  English  opened  their 
fire  at  this  time.  I  assume  that  the  heavy  sea  made  more  trouble 
for  them  than  it  did  for  us.  Their  two  armored  cruisers  remained 
covered  by  our  fire,  while  they,  so  far  as  could  be  determined,  hit 
the  Scharnhorst  but  twice,  and  the  Gneisenau  only  four  tunes. 
At  6.53,  when  6,500  yards  apart,  I  ordered  a  course  one  point  away 
from  the  enemy.  They  were  firing  more  slowly  at  this  time,  while 
we  were  able  to  count  numerous  hits.  We  could  see,  among  other 
things,  that  the  top  of  the  Monmouth's  forward  turret  had  been 
shot  away,  and  that  a  violent  fire  was  burning  hi  the  turret.  The 
Scharnhorst,  it  is  thought,  hit  the  Good  Hope  about  thirty-five 
tunes.  In  spite  of  our  altered  course  the  English  changed  theirs 
sufficiently  so  that  the  distance  between  us  shrunk  to  5,300  yards. 
There  was  reason  to  suspect  that  the  enemy  despaired  of  using  his 
.artillery  effectively,  and  was  maneuvering  for  a  torpedo  attack. 

"The  position  of  the  moon,  which  had  risen  at  six  o'clock,  was 
favorable  to  this  move.  Accordingly  I  gradually  opened  up  further 
distances  between  the  squadrons  by  another  deflection  of  the 
leading  ship,  at  7.45.  In  the  meantime  it  had  grown  dark.  The 
range  finders  on  the  Scharnhorst  used  the  fire  on  the  Monmouth  as 
a  guide  for  a  time,  though  eventually  all  range  finding,  aiming  and 
observations  became  so  inexact  that  fire  was  stopped  at  7.26.  At 
7.23  a  column  of  fire  from  an  explosion  was  noticed  between  the 
stacks  of  the  Good  Hope.  The  Monmouth  apparently  stopped 
firing  at  7.20.  The  small  cruisers,  including  the  Nuremburg, 
received  by  wireless  at  7.30  the  order  to  follow  the  enemy  and  to 
attack  his  ships  with  torpedoes.  Vision  was  somewhat  obscured 
at  this  time  by  a  rain  squall.  The  light  cruisers  were  not  able  to 


204  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

find  the  Good  Hope,  but  the  Nuremburg  encountered  the  Monmouth 
and  at  8.58  was  able,  by  shots  at  closest  range,  to  capsize  her, 
without  a  single  shot  being  fired  in  return.  Rescue  work  in  the 
heavy  sea  was  not  to  be  thought  of,  especially  as  the  Nuremburg 
immediately  afterward  believed  she  had  sighted  the  smoke  of 
another  ship  and  had  to  prepare  for  another  attack.  The  small 
cruisers  had  neither  losses  nor  damage  in  the  battle.  On  the 
Gneisenau  there  were  two  men  slightly  wounded.  The  crews  of 
the  ships  went  into  the  fight  with  enthusiasm,  every  one  did  his 
duty,  and  played  his  part  in  the  victory." 

Little  criticism  can  be  made  of  the  tactics  used  by  Vice- 
Admiral  Spec.  He  appears  to  have  maneuvered  so  as  to  secure  the 
advantage  of  light,  wind  and  sea.  He  also  seems  to  have  suited 
himself  as  regards  the  range. 

Admiral  Cradock  was  much  criticised  for  joining  battle  with 
his  little  fleet  against  such  odds,  but  he  followed  the  glorious  tradi- 
tions of  the  English  navy.  He,  and  1 ,650  officers  and  men,  were  lost, 
and  the  news  was  hailed  as  a  great  German  victory.  But  the 
British  admiralty  were  thoroughly  roused.  Rear-Admiral  Sir 
Frederick  Doveton  Sturdee,  chief  of  the  war  staff,  proceeded  at 
once  with  a  squadron  to  the  South  Atlantic.  With  him  were  two 
battle  cruisers,  the  Invincible  and  the  Inflexible,  three  armored 
cruisers,  the  Carnovan,  the  Kent  and  the  Cornwall.  His  fleet  was 
joined  by  the  light  cruiser  Bristol  and  the  armed  liner  Macedonia. 
The  Glasgow,  fresh  from  her  rough  experience,  was  found  in  the 
South  Atlantic.  Admiral  Sturdee  then  laid  his  plans  to  come  in 
touch  with  the  victorious  German  squadron.  A  wireless  message 
was  sent  to  the  Canopus,  bidding  her  proceed  to  Port  Stanley  in 
the  Falkland  Islands.  This  message  was  intercepted  by  the 
Germans,  as  was  intended. 

Admiral  von  Spec,  fearing  the  Japanese  fleet,  was  already 
headed  for  Cape  Horn.  He  thought  that  the  Canopus  could  be 
easily  captured  at  Port  Stanley,  and  he  started  at  once  to  that 
port.  Admiral  Sturdee's  expedition  had  been  kept  profoundly 
secret.  On  December  7th  the  British  squadron  arrived  at  Port 
Stanley,  and  spent  the  day  coaling.  The  Canopus,  the  Glasgow 
and  the  Bristol  were  hi  the  inner  harbor,  while  the  remaining 
vessels  lay  outside.  On  December  8th,  Admiral  von  Spee  arrived 
from  the  direction  of  Cape  Horn.  The  battle  that  followed  is 


GERMANY  BRINGS  THE  WAR  TO  EAST  COAST  TOWNS  OF  ENGLAND 
By  raids  with  light  cruisers  on  the  coast  towns,  and  Zeppelins  and  airplanes 
further  inland,  Germany  sought  to  frighten  the  British  populace.  At  Hartle- 
popl.  where  this  scene  was  enacted,  several  civilians,  some  of  them  women  and 
children,  were  killed  by  bursting  shells  pf  the  raiders. 


BRITANNIA  RULES  THE  WAVES  207 

thoroughly  described  in  the  report  of  Vice-Admiral  Sturdee  from 
which  the  following  extracts  have  been  made: 

"At  8  A.  M.,  Tuesday,  December  8th,  a  signal  was  received 
from  the  signal  station  on  shore.  'A  four-funnel  and  two-funnel 
man-of-war  in  sight  from  Sapper  Hill  steering  north.'  The  Kent 
was  at  once  ordered  to  weigh  anchor,  and  a  general  signal  was 
made  to  raise  steam  for  full  speed.  At  8.20  the  signal  service 
station  reported  another  column  of  smoke  in  sight,  and  at  8.47  the 
Canopus  reported  that  the  first  two  ships  were  eight  miles  off, 
and  that  the  smoke  reported  at  8.20  appeared  to  be  the  smoke 
of  two  ships  about  twenty  miles  off.  At  9.20  A.  M.  the  two  leading 
ships  of  the  enemy,  the  Gneisenau  and  Nuremburg,  with  guns  trained 
on  the  wireless  station,  came  within  range  of  the  Canopus,  which 
opened  fire  at  them  across  the  lowland  at  a  range  of  11,000  yards. 
The  enemy  at  once  hoisted  their  colors,  and  turned  away.  A  few 
minutes  later  the  two  cruisers  altered  course  to  port,  as  though 
to  close  the  Kent  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbor.  But  at  about 
this  time  it  seems  that  the  Invincible  and  Inflexible  were  seen  over 
the  land,  and  the  enemy  at  once  altered  course,  and  increased  speed 
to  join  their  consorts.  At  9.45  A.  M.  the  squadron  weighed  anchor 
and  proceeded  out  of  the  harbor,  the  Carnovan  leading.  On 
passing  Cape  Pembroke  light,  the  five  ships  of  the  enemy  appeared 
clearly  in  sight  to  the  southeast,  hull  down.  The  visibility  was 
at  its  maximum,  the  sea  was  calm,  with  a  bright  sun,  a  clear  sky, 
and  a  light  breeze  from  the  northwest.  At  10.20  the  signal  for  a 
general  chase  was  made.  At  this  time  the  enemy's  funnels  and 
bridges  showed  just  above  the  horizon.  Information  was  received 
from  the  Bristol  at  11.27  that  three  enemy  ships  had  appeared 
off  Port  Pleasant,  probably  colliers  or  transports.  The  Bristol 
was  therefore  directed  to  take  the  Macedonia  under  orders,  and 
destroy  transports. 

"The  enemy  were  still  maintaining  their  distance,  and  I 
decided  at  12.20  P.  M.  to  attack,  with  the  two  battle  cruisers  and 
the  Glasgow.  At  12.47  P.  M.  the  signal  to  'Open  fire  and  engage 
the  enemy'  was  made.  The  Inflexible  opened  fire  at  12.55  P.  M. 
at  the  right-hand  ship  of  the  enemy,  and  a  few  minutes  later  the 
Invincible  opened  fire  at  the  same  ship.  The  deliberate  fire  became 
too  threatening,  and  when  a  shell  fell  close  alongside  her  at  1.20  P.  M. 
she,  the  Leipsig,  turned  away,  with  the  Nuremburg  and  Dresden, 


208  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

to  the  southwest.  These  light  crusiers  were  at  once  followed  by 
the  Kent,  Glasgow  and  Cornwall. 

"The  action  finally  developed  into  three  separate  encounters. 
First,  the  action  with  the  armored  cruisers.  The  fire  of  the  battle 
cruisers  was  directed  on  the  Scharnhorst  and  Gneisenau.  The 
effect  of  this  was  quickly  seen,  when,  with  the  Scharnhorst  leading, 
they  turned  about  seven  points  to  port,  and  opened  fire.  Shortly 
afterwards  the  battle  cruisers  were  ordered  to  turn  together  with 
the  Invincible  leading.  The  enemy  then  turned  about  ten  points 
to  starboard,  and  a  second  chase  ensued  until,  at  2.45,  the  battle 
cruisers  again  opened  fire.  This  caused  the  enemy  to  turn  into 
line  ahead  to  port  and  open  fire.  The  Scharnhorst  caught  fire 
forward,  but  not  seriously,  and  her  fire  slackened  perceptibly.  The 
Gneisenau  was  badly  hit  by  the  Inflexible. 

"At  3.30  P.  M.  the  Scharnhorst  turned  about  ten  points  to 
starboard,  her  fire  had  slackened  perceptibly,  and  one  shell  had 
shot  away  her  third  funnel.  Some  guns  were  not  firing,  and  it 
would  appear  that  the  turn  was  dictated  by  a  desire  to  bring  her 
starboard  guns  into  action.  The  effect  of  the  fire  on  the  Scharn- 
horst became  more  and  more  apparent  in  consequence  of  smoke 
from  fires  and  also  escaping  steam.  At  times  a  shell  would  cause  a 
large  hole  to  appear  in  her  side,  through  which  could  be  seen  a  dull, 
red  glow  of  flame. 

"At  4.04  p.  M.  the  Scharnhorst,  whose  flag  remained  flying  to 
the  last,  suddenly  listed  heavily  to  port,  and  within  a  minute  it 
became  clear  that  she  was  a  doomed  ship,  for  the  list  increased 
very  rapidly  until  she  lay  on  her  beam  ends.  At  4.17  P.  M.  she 
disappeared.  The  Gneisenau  passed  on  the  far  side  of  her  late 
flagship,  and  continued  a  determined,  but  ineffectual,  effort  to 
fight  the  two  battle  cruisers.  At  5.08  P.  M.  the  forward  funnel 
was  knocked  over,  and  remained  resting  against  the  second  funnel. 
She  was  evidently  in  serious  straits,  and  her  fire  slackened  very 
much. 

At  5  15  P.  M.  one  of  the  Gneisenau's  shells  struck  the  Invinci- 

This  was  her  last  effective  effort.     At  5.30  p.  M.  she  turned 

toward  the  flagship  with  a  heavy  list  to  starboard,  and  appeared  to 

top,  the  steam  pouring  from  her  escape  pipes,  and  smoke  from  shell 

and  fires  rising  everywhere.     About  this  time  I  ordered  the  signal 

Cease  fire,'  but  before  it  was  hoisted,  the  Gneisenau  opened  fire 


BRITANNIA  RULES  THE  WAVES  209 

again,  and  continued  to  fire  from  time  to  time  with  a  single  gun. 
At  5.40  P.  M.  the  three  ships  closed  hi  on  the  Gneisenau,  and  at 
this  time  the  flag  flying  at  her  fore  truck,  was  apparently  hauled 
down,  but  the  flag  at  the  peak  continued  flying.  At  5.50  'Cease 
fire'  was  made.  At  6  P.  M.  the  Gneisenau  keeled  over  very  sud- 
denly, showing  the  men  gathered  on  her  decks,  and  then  walking 
on  her  side  as  she  lay  for  a  mhiute  on  her  beam  ends  before  sinking. 

"The  prisoners  of  war  from  the  Gneisenau  report  that  by  the 
tune  the  ammunition  was  expended  some  six  hundred  men  had 
been  killed  and  wounded.  When  the  ship  capsized  and  sank  there 
were  probably  some  two  hundred  unwounded  survivors  in  the 
water,  but,  owing  to  the  shock  of  the  cold  water,  many  were  drowned 
within  sight  of  the  boats  and  ships.  Every  effort  was  made  to 
save  life  as  quickly  as  possible,  both  by  boats  and  from  the  ships. 
Life  buoys  were  thrown  and  ropes  lowered,  but  only  a  portion 
could  be  rescued.  The  Invincible  alone  rescued  a  hundred  and 
eight  men,  fourteen  of  whom  were  found  to  be  dead  after  being 
brought  on  board.  These  men  were  buried  at  sea  the  following 
day,  with  full  military  honors. 

"  Second,  action  with  the  light  cruisers.  About  one  P.  M. 
when  the  Scharnhorst  and  the  Gneisenau  turned  to  port  to  engage 
the  Invincible  and  the  Inflexible,  the  enemy's  light  cruisers  turned 
to  starboard  to  escape.  The  Dresden  was  leading,  and  the  Nurem- 
burg  and  Leipzig  followed  on  each  quarter.  In  accordance  with 
my  instructions,  the  Glasgow,  Kent  and  Cornwall  at  once  went  in 
chase  of  these  ships.  The  Glasgow  drew  well  ahead  of  the  Corn- 
wall and  Kent,  and  at  3  P.  M.  shots  were  exchanged  with  the 
Leipzig  at  12,000  yards.  The  Glasgow's  object  was  to  endeavor 
to  outrange  the  Leipzig,  and  thus  cause  her  to  alter  course  and  give 
the  Cornwall  and  Kent  a  chance  of  coming  into  action.  At 
4.17  P.  M.  the  Cornwall  opened  fire  also  on  the  Leipzig;  at  7.17  P.  M. 
the  Leipzig  was  on  fire  fore  and  aft,  and  the  Cornwall  and  Glasgow 
ceased  fire.  The  Leipzig  turned  over  on  her  port  side  and  dis- 
appeared at  9  P.  M.  Seven  officers  and  eleven  men  were  saved.  At 
3.36  P.  M.  the  Cornwall  ordered  the  Kent  to  engage  the  Nurem- 
burg,  the  nearest  cruiser  to  her.  At  6.35  P.  M.  the  Nuremburg  was 
on  fire  forward,  and  ceased  firing.  The  Kent  also  ceased  firing, 
then,  as  the  colors  were  still  observed  to  be  flying  on  the  Nurem- 
burg,  the  Kent  opened  fire  again.  Fire  was  finally  stopped  five 


210  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

minutes  later,  on  the  colors  being  hauled  down,  and  every  prepara- 
tion was  made  to  save  life.  The  Nuremburg  sank  at  7.27,  and  as 
she  sank  a  group  of  men  were  waving  the  German  ensign  attached 

to  a  staff. 

"Twelve  men  were  rescued,  but  only  seven  survived.  The 
Kent  had  four  killed  and  twelve  wounded,  mostly  caused  by  one 
shell.  During  the  time  the  three  cruisers  were  engaged  with  the 
Nuremburg  and  Leipzig,  the  Dresden,  which  was  beyond  her  con- 
sorts, effected  her  escape,  owing  to  her  superior  speed.  The  Glas- 
gow was  the  only  cruiser  with  sufficient  speed  to  have  had  any 
chance  of  success,  however  she  was  fully  employed  in  engaging  the 
Leipzig  for  over  an  hour  before  either  the  Cornwall  or  Kent  could 
come  up  and  get  within  range.  During  this  tune  the  Dresden  was 
able  to  increase  her  distance  and  get  out  of  sight.  Three,  Action 
with  the  enemy's  transports.  H.M.S.  Macedonia  reports  that  only 
two  ships,  the  steamships  Baden  and  Santa  Isabel,  were  present. 
Both  ships  were  sunk  after  removal  of  the  crews." 

Thus  was  annihilated  the  last  squadron  belonging  to  Germany 
outside  the  North  Sea.  The  defeat  of  Cradock  had  been  avenged. 
The  British  losses  were  very  small,  considering  the  length  of  the 
fight  and  the  desperate  efforts  of  the  German  fleet.  Only  one  ship 
of  the  German  squadron  was  able  to  escape,  and  this  on  account  of 
her  great  speed.  The  German  sailors  went  down  with  colors 
flying.  They  died  as  Cradock's  men  had  died. 

The  naval  war  now  entered  upon  a  new  phase.  The  shores  of 
Great  Britain  had  for  many  years  been  so  thoroughly  protected 
by  the  British  navy  that  few  coast  fortifications  had  been  built, 
except  at  important  naval  stations.  Invasion  on  a  grand  scale 
was  plainly  impossible,  so  long  as  the  British  fleets  held  control 
of  the  sea.  With  German  guns  across  the  Channel  almost  within 
hearing  it  was  evident  that  a  raiding  party  might  easily  reach  the 
English  shore  on  some  foggy  night.  The  English  people  were 
much  disturbed.  They  had  read  the  accounts  of  the  horrible 
brutalities  of  the  German  troops  in  Belgium  and  eastern  France, 
and  they  imagined  then-  feelings  if  a  band  of  such  ferocious  brutes 
were  to  land  in  England  and  pillage  their  peaceful  homes.  There 
was  a  humorous  side  to  the  way  in  which  the  yeomanry  and 
territorials  entrenched  themselves  along  the  eastern  coast  line, 
but  the  Germans,  angry  at  the  failure  of  their  fleets,  determined 


BRITANNIA  RULES  THE  WAVES 


to  disturb  the  British  peace  by  raids,  slight  as  the  military  advan- 
tage of  such  raids  might  be. 

On  November  2d  a  fleet  of  German  warships  sailed  from  the 
Elbe.  They  were  three  battle  cruisers,  the  Seydlitz,  the  Moltke, 
and  the  Von  Der  Tann;  two  armored  cruisers,  the  Bliicher  and 
the  York,  and  three  light  cruisers,  the  Kolberg,  the  Graudenz, 
and  the  Strasburg.  They  were  mainly  fast  vessels  and  the  battle 
cruisers  carried  eleven-inch  guns.  Early  in  the  morning  they  ran 
through  the  nets  of  a  British  fishing  fleet.  Later  an  old  coast 
police  boat,  the  Halcyon,  was  shot  at  a  few  times.  About  eight 
o'clock  they  were  opposite  Yarmouth,  and  proceeded  to  bombard 


. _    ,-   j   - -  — • 

•      ~^~.  -    '  --      —~.F 


ENGLISH  COAST  TOWNS  THAT  WERE  RAIDED 


that  naval  station  from  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles.  Their 
range  was  poor  and  their  shells  did  no  damage.  They  then  turned 
swiftly  for  home,  but  on  the  road  back  the  York  struck  a  mine,  and 
was  sunk. 

On  the  16th  of  December  they  came  again,  full  of  revenge 
because  of  the  destruction  of  von  Spee  and  his  squadron.  Early 
in  the  morning  early  risers  in  Scarborough  saw  in  the  north  four 
strange  ships.  Scarborough  was  absolutely  without  defense.  It 
had  once  been  an  artillery  depot  but  in  recent  years  had  been  a 
cavalry  station,  and  some  few  troops  of  this  service  were  quartered 
there.  Otherwise  it  was  an  open  seaside  resort.  The  German 
ships  poured  shells  into  the  defenseless  town,  aiming  at  every 
large  object  they  could  see,  the  Grand  Hotel,  the  gas  works,  the 


21*  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

water  works  and  the  wireless  station.  Churches,  public  buildings, 
and  hospitals  were  hit,  as  well  as  private  houses.  Over  five  hundred 
shells  were  fired.  Then  the  ships  turned  around  and  moved  away. 
The  streets  were  crowded  with  puzzled  and  scared  inhabitants, 
many  of  whom,  as  is  customary  in  watering  places,  were  women, 
children  and  invalids. 

At  nine  o'clock  Whitby,  a  coast  town  near  Scarborough,  saw 
two  great  ships  steaming  up  from  the  south.  Ten  minutes  later 
the  ships  were  firing.  The  old  Abbey  of  Hilda  and  Cedman  was 
struck,  but  on  the  whole  little  damage  was  done.  Another  division 
of  the  invaders  visited  the  Hartlepools.  There  there  was  a  small 
fort,  with  a  battery  of  old-fashioned  guns,  and  off  the  shore  was  a 
small  British  flotilla,  a  gunboat  and  two  destroyers.  The  three 
battle  cruisers  among  the  German  raiders  opened  fire.  The  little 
British  fleet  did  what  they  could  but  were  quickly  driven  off. 
The  German  ships  then  approached  the  shore  and  fired  on  the  Eng- 
lish battery,  the  first  fight  with  a  foreign  foe  in  England  since  1690. 
The  British  battery  consisted  of  some  territorials  who  stood  with- 
out wavering  to  then*  guns  and  kept  up  for  half  an  hour  a  furious 
cannonading.  A  great  deal  of  damage  was  done;  churches,  hos- 
pitals, workhouses  and  schools  were  all  hit.  The  total  death  roll 
was  119,  and  the  wounded  over  300.  Six  hundred  houses  were 
damaged  or  destroyed,  but  there  was  a  great  deal  of  heroism,  not 
only  among  the  territorials,  but  among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
town,  and  when  the  last  shots  were  fired  all  turned  to  the  work  of 
relief. 

Somewhere  between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  the  bold  German 
fleet  started  for  home.  The  British  Grand  Fleet  had  been  notified 
of  the  raid  and  two  battle  cruiser  squadrons  were  hurrying  to 
intercept  them.  But  the  weather  had  thickened  and  the  waters 
of  the  North  Sea  were  covered  with  fog  belts  stretching  for  hun- 
dreds of  miles.  And  so  the  raiders  returned  safe  to  receive  their 
Iron  Crosses.  The  German  aim  in  such  raids  was  probably  to 
create  a  panic,  and  so  interfere  with  the  English  military  plans, 
f  the  English  had  not  looked  at  the  matter  with  common  sense 
they  might  easily  have  been  tempted  to  spend  millions  of  pounds 
on  seaboard  fortifications,  and  keep  millions  of  men  at  home  who 
were  more  necessary  in  the  armies  in  France.  But  the  English 
people  kept  then*  heads. 


BRITANNIA  RULES  THE  WAVES  213 

Germany,  perceiving  the  indignation  of  the  world  at  these 
bombardments  of  defenseless  watering  places,  endeavored  to 
appease  criticism  by  describing  them  as  fortified  towns.  But  the 
well-known  excellence  of  the  German  system  of  espionage  makes  it 
plain  that  they  knew  the  true  condition  of  affairs.  These  towns 
were  not  selected  as  fortified  towns,  but  because  they  were  not,  and 
destruction  hi  unfortified  towns  it  was  thought  would  have  a 
greater  effect  than  in  a  fortified  town  where  it  would  be  regarded 
as  among  the  natural  risks  of  war. 

During  the  rest  of  the  year  of  1914  no  further  sea  fight  took 
place  in  the  North  Sea  nor  was  there  any  serious  loss  to  the  navy 
from  torpedo  or  submarine.  But  on  the  first  of  January,  1915,  the 
British  ship  Formidable,  15,000  tons,  was  struck  by  two  torpedoes 
and  sunk.  The  previous  day  she  had  left  Sheerness  with  eight 
vessels  of  the  Channel  fleet  and  with  no  protection  from  destroyers. 
The  night  was  a  bright  moonlight  and  for  such  vessels  to  be  moving 
in  line  on  such  a  night  without  destroyers  shows  gross  carelessness. 
Out  of  a  crew  of  800  men  only  201  were  saved,  and  the  rescue  of 
this  part  of  the  crew  was  due  to  the  seamanship  of  Captain  Pillar 
of  the  trawler  Providence,  who  managed  to.  take  most  of  those 
rescued  on  board  his  vessel. 

On  January  24th  the  German  battle  cruiser  squadron  under 
Rear-Admiral  Hipper  set  sail  from  Wilhelmshaven.  What  his 
object  was  is  not  known.  He  had  enlarged  the  mine  field  north  of 
Helgoland  and  north  of  the  mine  field  had  stationed  a  submarine 
flotilla.  It  is  likely  that  he  was  planning  to  induce  the  British 
fleet  to  follow  him  into  the  mine  field,  or  within  reach  of  his  sub- 
marines. That  same  morning  the  British  battle  cruiser  squadron 
under  Vice-Admiral  Sir  David  Beatty  put  to  sea. 

According  to  the  official  report  of  the  English  Admiral  he  was 
in  command  of  the  following  vessels:  battle  cruisers,  the  Lion, 
Princess  Royal,  the  Tiger,  the  New  Zealand,  and  the  Indomitable; 
light  cruisers,  the  Southampton,  the  Nottingham,  the  Birming- 
ham, the  Lowestoft,  the  Arethusa,  the  Aurora  and  the  Undaunted, 
with  destroyer  flotillas  under  Commodore  Tyrwhitt.  The  German 
Admiral  had  with  him  the  Seydlitz,  the  Moltke,  the  Derfflinger,  the 
Bliicher,  six  light  cruisers  and  a  destroyer  flotilla.  The  English 
Admiral  apparently  had  some  hint  of  the  plans  of  the  German 
squadron.  The  night  of  the  23d  had  been  foggy;  in  the  morning, 


214  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

however  the  wind  came  from  the  northeast  and  cleared  off  the 
mists.  An  abridgment  of  the  official  report  gives  a  good  account 
of  the  battle,  sometimes  called  the  battle  of  Dogger  Bank: 

"At  7.25  A.  M.  the  flash  of  guns  was  observed  south-south- 
east; shortly  afterwards  the  report  reached  me  from  the  Aurora 
that  she  was  engaged  with  enemy  ships.  I  immediately  altered 
course  to  south-southeast,  increased  speed,  and  ordered  the  light 
cruisers  and  flotillas  to  get  hi  touch  and  report  movements  of  enemy. 
This  order  was  acted  upon  with  great  promptitude,  indeed  my 
wishes  had  already  been  forestalled  by  the  respective  senior  officers, 
and  reports  almost  immediately  followed  from  the  Southampton, 
Arethusa,  and  Aurora  as  to  the  position  and  composition  of  the 
enemy.  The  enemy  had  altered  their  course  to  southeast;  from 
now  onward  the  light  cruisers  maintained  touch  with  the  enemy 
and  kept  me  fully  informed  as  to  their  movements.  The  battle 
cruisers  worked  up  to  full  speed,  steering  to  the  southward;  the 
wind  at  the  tune  was  northeast,  light,  with  extreme  visibility. 

"At  7.30  A.  M.  the  enemy  were  sighted  on  the  port  bow,  steam- 
ing fast,  steering  approximately  southeast,  distance  fourteen  miles. 
Owing  to  the  prompt  reports  received  we  had  attained  our  posi- 
tion on  the  quarter  of  the  enemy,  and  altered  course  to  run  parallel 
to  them.  We  then  settled  down  to  a  long  stern  chase,  gradually 
increasing  our  speed  until  we  reached  28.5  knots. 

"Great  credit  is  due  to  the  engineer  staffs  of  the  New  Zealand 
and  Indomitable.  These  ships  greatly  exceeded  their  speed.  At 
8.52  A.  M.,  as  we  had  closed  within  20,000  yards  of  the  rear  ship, 
the  battle  cruisers  maneuvered  so  that  guns  would  bear  and  the 
Lion  fired  a  single  shot  which  fell  short.  The  enemy  at  this  time 
were  in  single  line  ahead,  with  light  cruisers  ahead  and  a  large 
number  of  destroyers  on  their  starboard  beam.  Single  shots 
were  fired  at  intervals  to  test  the  range,  and  at  9.09  the  Lion  made 
her  first  hit  on  the  Blucher,  the  rear  ship  of  the  German  line. 
At  9.20  the  Tiger  opened  fire  on  the  Blucher,  and  the  Lion  shifted 
to  the  third  hi  the  line,  this  ship  being  hit  by  several  salvos.  The 
enemy  returned  our  fire  at  9.14  A.  M.,  the  Princess  Royal,  on  coming 
into  range,  opened  fire  on  the  Blucher.  The  New  Zealand  was 
ilso  within  range  of  the  Blucher  which  had  dropped  somewhat 
astern,  and  opened  fire  on  her.  The  Princess  Royal  then  shifted 
to  the  third  ship  in  the  line  (Derfflinger)  inflicting  considerable 


BRITANNIA  RULES  THE  WAVES  215 

damage  on  her.  Our  flotilla  cruisers  and  destroyers  had  gradually 
dropped  from  a  position,  broad  on  our  beam,  to  our  port  quarter, 
so  as  not  to  foul  our  range  with  their  smoke.  But  the  enemy's 
destroyers  threatening  attack,  the  Meteor  and  M  division  passed 
ahead  of  us. 

"About  9.45  the  situation  was  about  as  follows:  The  Bliicher, 
the  fourth  in  their  line,  showed  signs  of  having  suffered  severely 
from  gun  fire,  their  leading  ship  and  number  three  were  also  on  fire. 
The  enemy's  destroyers  emitted  vast  columns  of  smoke  to  screen 
their  battle  cruisers,  and  under  cover  of  this  the  latter  now 
appeared  to  have  altered  course  to  the  northward  to  increase  then- 
distance.  The  battle  cruisers  therefore  were  ordered  to  form  a 
line  of  bearing  north-northwest,  and  proceeded  at  the  utmost 
speed.  Their  destroyers  then  showed  evident  signs  of  an  attempt 
to  attack.  The  Lion  and  the  Tiger  opened  fire  upon  them,  and 
caused  them  to  retire  and  resume  their  original  course. 

"At  10.48  A.  M.  the  Bliicher,  which  had  dropped  considerably 
astern  of  the  enemy's  line,  hauled  out  to  port,  steering  north  with 
a  heavy  list,  on  fire,  and  apparently  hi  a  defeated  condition.  I 
consequently  ordered  the  Indomitable  to  attack  the  enemy  break- 
ing northward.  At  10.54  submarines  were  reported  on  the  star- 
board bow,  and  I  personally  observed  the  wash  of  a  periscope.  I 
immediately  turned  to  port.  At  10.03  an  injury  to  the  Lion  being 
reported  as  being  incapable  of  immedate  repair,  I  directed  the  Lion 
to  shape  course  northwest. 

"At  11.20  I  called  the  Attack  alongside,  shifting  my  flag  to 
her,  and  proceeded  at  utmost  speed  to  rejoin  the  squadron.  I  met 
them  at  noon,  retiring  north-northwest.  I  boarded  and  hoisted 
my  flag  on  the  Princess  Royal,  when  Captain  Brock  acquainted 
me  with  what  had  occurred  since  the  Lion  fell  out  of  line,  namely, 
that  the  Blticher  had  been  sunk  and  that  the  enemy  battle  cruisers 
had  continued  their  course  to  the  eastward  hi  a  considerably  dam- 
aged condition.  He  also  informed  me  that  a  Zeppelin  and  a  sea- 
plane had  endeavored  to  drop  bombs  on  the  vessels  which  went  to 
the  rescue  of  the  survivors  of  the  Bliicher." 

It  appears  from  this  report  that  as  soon  as  the  Germans  sighted 
the  British  fleet  they  promptly  turned  around  and  fled  to  the 
southeast.  This  flight,  before  they  could  have  known  the  full 
British  strength,  suggests  that  the  German  Admiral  was  hoping 


216  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

to  lure  the  British  vessels  into  the  Helgoland  trap.  The  British 
gunnery  was  remarkably  good,  shot  after  shot  taking  effect  at  a 
distance  of  ten  miles,  and  that  too  when  moving  at  over  thirty 
miles  an  hour.  Over  120  of  the  crew  of  the  Blucher  were  rescued 
and  more  would  have  been  rescued  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  attack 
upon  the  rescue  parties  by  the  German  aircraft.  The  injury  to 
the  Lion  was  very  unfortunate.  Admiral  Beatty  handed  over 
charge  of  the  battle  cruisers  to  Rear-Admiral  Moore,  and  when  he 
was  able  to  overtake  the  squadron  he  found  that  under  Admiral 
Moore's  orders  the  British  fleet  were  retiring.  The  British  squad- 
ron at  the  moment  of  turning  was  seventy  miles  from  Helgoland, 
and  in  no  danger  from  its  mine  fields.  What  might  have  been  a 
crushing  victory  became  therefore  only  a  partial  one:  the  Germans 
lost  the  Blucher;  the  Derfflinger  and  the  Seydlitz  were  badly 
injured,  but  it  seems  that  with  a  little  more  persistence  the  whole 
German  squadron  might  have  been  destroyed. 

The  result  was  a  serious  blow  to  Germany.  This  engagement 
was  the  first  between  modern  big-gun  ships.  Particular  interest 
is  also  attached  to  it  because  each  squadron  was  accompanied  by 
scouting  and  screening  light  cruisers  and  destroyers.  It  was  fear 
of  submarines  and  mines,  moreover,  that  influenced  the  British 
to  break  off  the  engagement.  A  Zeppelin  airship  and  a  seaplane 
also  took  part,  and  perhaps  assisted  hi  the  fire  control  of  the 
Germans.  The  conditions  surrounding  this  battle  were  ideal  for 
illustrating  the  functions  of  battle  cruisers.  The  German  warship 
raid  on  the  British  coast  of  the  previous  month  was  still  fresh  in 
mind,  and  when  this  situation  off  the  Dogger  Bank  arose  the 
timely  interposing  of  Admiral  Beatty's  superior  force,  the  fast 
chase,  the  long-range  fighting,  the  loss  of  the  Blucher  and  the 
hasty  retreat  of  the  enemy,  were  all  particularly  pleasing  to  the 
British  people.  As  a  result  the  battle  cruiser  type  of  ship  attained 
great  popularity. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

NEW  METHODS  AND  HORRORS  OF  WARFARE 

WHEN  Germany  embarked  upon  its  policy  of  fright- 
fulness,  it  held  in  reserve  murderous  inventions  that 
had  been  contributed  to  the  German  General  Staff  by 
chemists  and  other  scientists  working  in  conjunction 
with  the  war.    Never  since  the  dawn  of  tune  had  there  been  such 
a  perversion  of  knowledge  to  criminal  purposes;  never  had  science 
contributed  such  a  deadly  toll  to  the  fanatic  and  criminal  inten- 
tions of  a  war-crazed  class. 

As  the  war  uncoiled  its  weary  length,  and  month  after  month 
of  embargo  and  privation  saw  the  morale  of  the  German  nation 
growing  steadily  lower,  these  murderous  inventions  were  suc- 
cessively called  into  play  against  the  Allies,  but  as  each  horror 
was  put  into  play  on  the  battle-field,  its  principles  were  solved  by 
the  scientists  of  the  Allied  nations,  and  the  deadly  engine  of 
destruction  was  turned  with  trebled  force  against  the  Huns. 

This  happened  with  the  various  varieties  of  poison  gas,  with 
liquid  fire,  with  trench  knives,  with  nail-studded  clubs,  with 
armor  used  by  shock  troops,  with  airplane  bombs,  with  cannon 
throwing  projectiles  weighing  thousands  of  pounds  great  dis- 
tances behind  the  battle  lines.  Not  only  did  America  and  the 
Allies  improve  upon  Germany's  pattern  in  these  respects,  but 
they  added  a  few  inventions  that  went  far  toward  turning  the 
scale  against  Germany.  An  example  of  these  is  the  "tank." 
Originally  this  was  a  caterpillar  tractor  invented  in  America  and 
adopted  in  England.  At  first  these  were  of  two  varieties,  the 
male,  carrying  heavy  guns  only,  and  the  females,  equipped  with 
machine  guns.  To  these  was  later  added  the  whippet  tank, 
named  after  the  racing  dog  developed  in  England.  These  whippet 
tanks  averaged  eighteen  miles  an  hour,  carrying  death  and  terror 
into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  All  the  tanks  were  heavily  armored 
and  had  as  their  motto  the  significant  words  "Treat  'Em  Rough." 
The  Germans  designed  a  heavy  anti-tank  rifle  about  three  feet 

217 


218  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

longer  than  the  ordinary  rifle  and  carrying  a  charge  calculated  to 
pierce  tank  armor.  These  were  issued  to  the  German  first  line 
trenches  at  the  rate  of  three  to  a  company.  That  they  were  not 
particularly  effective  was  proved  by  the  ease  with  which  the  tanks 
of  all  varieties  tore  through  the  barbed  wire  entanglements  and 
passed  over  the  Hindenburg  and  Kriemhild  lines,  supposed  by 
the  Germans  to  be  impregnable. 

The  tanks  in  effect  were  mobile  artillery  and  were  used  as 
such  by  all  the  Allied  troops.  Germany  frantically  endeavored  to 
manufacture  tanks  to  meet  the  Allied  monsters,  but  their  efforts 
were  feeble  when  compared  with  the  great  output  opposed  to  them. 

Before  considering  other  inventions  used  for  the  first  time  in 
this  war,  it  is  well  to  understand  the  tremendous  changes  in 
methods  and  tactics  made  necessary  by  these  discoveries. 

Put  into  a  sentence,  the  changed  warfare  amounts  to  this: 
it  is  a  mobilization  of  material,  of  railroads,  great  guns,  machine 
guns,  food,  airplanes  and  other  engines  of  destruction  quite  as 
much  as  it  is  a  mobilization  of  men. 

The  Germans  won  battle  after  battle  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war  because  of  their  system  of  strategic  railways  that  made  it 
possible  to  transport  huge  armies  to  selected  points  in  the  shortest 
possible  tune  both  on  the  eastern  and  the  western  fronts.  Lacking 
a  system  of  transportation  to  match  this,  Russia  lost  the  great 
battles  that  decided  her  fate,  Belgium  was  over-run,  and  France, 
once  the  border  was  passed,  became  a  battle-field  upon  which  the 
Germans  might  extend  their  trench  systems  over  the  face  of  the 
land. 

Lacking  strategic  railways  to  match  those  of  Germany, 
France  evolved  an  effective  substitute  in  the  modern  system  of 
automobile  transportation.  When  von  Kluck  swung  aside  from 
Paris  in  his  first  great  rush,  Gallieni  sent  out  from  Paris  an  army 
in  taxicabs  that  struck  the  exposed  flank  and  went  far  toward 
winning  the  first  battle  of  the  Marne.  It  was  the  truck  trans- 
portation system  of  the  French  along  the  famous  "Sacred  Road" 
back  of  the  battle  line  at  Verdun  that  kept  inviolate  the  motto 
of  the  heroic  town,  "They  Shall  Not  Pass."  Motor  trucks  that 
brought  American  reserves  in  a  khaki  flood  won  the  second  battle 
f  the  Marne.  It  was  automobile  transportation  that  enabled 
tlaig  to  send  the  British  Canadians  and  Australians  in  full  cry 


NEW  METHODS  OF  WARFARE  219 

after  the  retreating  Germans  when  the  backbone  of  the  German 
resistance  was  broken  before  Lens,  Cambrai,  and  Ostend. 

America's  railway  transportation  system  in  France  was  one 
of  the  marvels  of  the  war.  Stretching  from  the  sector  of  sea- 
coast  set  apart  for  America  by  the  French  Government,  it  radiated 
far  into  the  interior,  delivering  men,  munitions  and  food  hi  a 
steady  stream.  American  engineers  worked  with  their  brothers- 
in-arms  with  the  Allies  to  construct  an  inter-weaving  system  of 
wide-gauge  and  narrow-gauge  roads  that  served  to  victual  and  muni- 
tion the  entire  front  and  further  serve  to  deliver  at  top  speed 
whole  army  corps.  It  was  this  network  of  strategic  railways 
that  enabled  the  French  to  send  an  avalanche  clad  hi  horizon- 
blue  to  the  relief  of  Amiens  when  Hindenburg  made  his  final 
tremendous  effort  of  1918. 

In  its  essentials,  military  effort  in  the  great  conflict  may  be 
roughly  divided  into 

Open  warfare, 

Trench  warfare, 

Crater  warfare. 

The  first  battle  of  the  Marne  was  almost  wholly  open  war- 
fare; so  also  were  the  battles  of  the  Masurian  Lakes,  Allenstein, 
and  Dunajec  in  the  eastern  theater  of  war,  and  most  of  the  war- 
fare on  the  Italian  front  between  the  Piave  River  and  Gorizia. 

In  this  variety  of  battle,  airplanes  and  observation  balloons 
play  a  prominent  part.  Once  the  enemy  is  driven  out  of  its 
trenches,  the  message  is  flashed  by  wireless  to  the  artillery  and 
slaughter  at  long  range  begins.  If  there  have  been  no  intrench- 
ments,  as  was  the  case  hi  the  first  battle  of  the  Marne,  massed 
artillery  send  a  plunging  fire  into  the  columns  moving  in  open 
order  and  prepare  the  way  for  machine  gunners  and  infantry  to 
finish  the  rout. 

In  previous  wars,  cavalry  played  a  heroic  r61e  in  open  warfare; 
only  rarely  has  it  been  possible  to  use  cavalry  in  the  Great  War. 
The  Germans  sent  a  screen  of  Uhlans  before  its  advancing  hordes 
into  Belguim  and  Northern  France  in  1914.  The  Uhlans  also 
were  in  the  van  hi  the  Russian  invasion,  but  with  these  exceptions, 
German  cavalry  was  a  negligible  factor. 

British  and  French  cavalry  were  active  in  pursuit  of  the 
fleeing  Teutons  when  the  Hindenburg  line  was  smashed  in 


220  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

September  of  1918.  Outside  of  that  brief  episode,  the  cavalry 
did  comparatively  nothing  so  far  as  the  Allies  were  concerned. 
It  was  the  practice  on  both  sides  to  dismount  cavalry  and  convert 
it  into  some  form  of  trench  service.  Trench  mortar  companies, 
bombing  squads,  and  other  specialty  groups  were  organized  from 
among  the  cavalrymen.  Of  course  the  fighting  in  the  open 
stretches  of  Mesopotamia,  South  Africa  and  Russia  involved  the 
use  of  great  bodies  of  cavalry.  The  trend  of  modern  warfare, 
however,  is  to  equip  the  cavalryman  with  grenades  and  bayonets, 
in  addition  to  his  ordinary  gear,  and  to  make  of  him  practically  a 
mounted  infantryman. 

Trench  warfare  occupied  most  of  the  time  and  made  nine- 
tenths  of  the  discomforts  of  the  soldiers  of  both  armies.  If  proof 
of  the  adaptive  capacity  of  the  human  animal  were  needed,  it  is 
afforded  by  the  manner  hi  which  the  men  burrowed  in  vermin- 
infested  earth  and  lived  there  under  conditions  of  Arctic  cold, 
frequently  enduring  long  deprivations  of  food,  fuel,  and  suitable 
clothing.  During  the  early  stages  of  the  war,  before  men  became 
accustomed  to  the  rigors  of  the  trenches,  many  thousands  died  as 
a  direct  result  of  the  exposure.  Many  thousand  of  others  were 
incapacitated  for  life  by  "trench  feet,"  a  group  of  maladies  cover- 
ing the  consequences  of  exposure  to  cold  and  water  which  in  those 
early  days  flowed  in  rivulets  through  most  of  the  trenches.  The 
trenches  at  Gallipoli  had  then-  own  special  brand  of  maladies. 
Heatstroke  and  a  malarial  infection  were  among  these  disabling 
agencies.  Trench  fever,  a  malady  beginning  with  a  headache  and 
sometimes  ending  hi  partial  paralysis  and  death,  was  another 
common  factor  in  the  mortality  records. 

But  in  spite  of  all  these  and  other  discomforts,  in  spite  of  the 
disgusting  vermin  that  crawled  upon  the  men  both  in  winter  and 
hi  summer,  both  sides  mastered  the  trenches  and  in  the  end  learned 
to  live  in  them  with  some  degree  of  comfort. 

At  first  the  trenches  were  comparatively  straight,  shallow 
affairs;  then  as  the  artillery  searched  them  out,  as  the  machine 
gunners  learned  the  art  of  looping  their  fire  so  that  the  bullets 
would  drop  into  the  hiding  places  of  the  enemy,  the  trench  systems 
gradually  became  more  scientifically  involved.  After  the  Germans 
had  been  beaten  at  the  Marne  and  had  retired  to  then-  prepared 
positions  along  the  Aisne,  there  commenced  a  series  of  flanking 


NEW  METHODS  OF  WARFARE 


221 


FORTS,  FLYING  AND  NAVAL  BASES  ON  THE  NORTH  SEA 


222  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

attempts  by  one  side  and  the  other  which  speedily  resolved  itself 
into  the  famous  "race  to  the  sea."  This  was  a  competition  between 
the  opposing  armies  in  rapid  trench  digging.  The  effort  on  either 
side  was  made  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  executing  a  flank  move- 
ment. In  an  amazingly  short  time  the  opposing  trenches  extended 
from  the  Belgian  coast  to  the  Swiss  border,  making  further  out- 
flanking attempts  impossible  of  achievement. 

This  was  not  the  first  tune  in  history  that  intrenched  armies 
opposed  each  other.  The  Civil  War  in  this  country  set  the 
fashion  in  that  respect.  The  contending  sides  in  the  Great  War, 
however,  improved  vastly  upon  the  American  example.  Com- 
municating trenches  were  constructed,  leading  back  to  the  com- 
pany kitchens,  and  finally  to  the  open  road  leading  back  to  the 
rest  billets  of  the  armies. 

When  night  raiding  commenced,  it  was  speedily  seen  that 
straight  trenches  exposed  whole  companies  of  men  to  enfilading 
fire.  Thereupon  bastions  were  made  and  new  defenses  presented 
by  zig-zagging  the  front-line  trenches  and  the  communicating 
ditches  as  well. 

To  the  formidable  obstacles  presented  by  the  trenches, 
equipped  as  they  were  with  sand-bag  parapets; -and  firing  steps, 
were  added  barbed-wire  entanglements  and  pitfalls  of  various 
sorts.  The  greatest  improvement  was  made  by  the  Germans, 
and  they  added  "pill  boxes."  These  were  really  miniature  fortresses 
of  concrete  and  armor  plate  with  a  dome-shaped  roof  and  loop- 
holes for  machine  gunners.  Only  a  direct  hit  by  a  projectile  from  a 
big  gun  served  to  demolish  a  "pill  box."  The  Allies  learned  after 
many  costly  experiments  that  the  best  method  to  overcome  these 
obstacles  was  to  pass  over  and  beyond  them,  leaving  them  isolated 
in  Allied  territory,  where  they  were  captured  at  the  leisure  of  the 
attackers. 

Trench  warfare  brings  with  it  new  instruments.  There  are 
the  flame  projectors,  which  throw  fire  to  a  distance  of  approximately 
a  hundred  feet.  The  Germans  were  the  first  to  use  these,  but 
they  were  excelled  in  this  respect  by  the  inventive  genius  of  the 
nations  opposing  them. 

The  use  of  poison  gas,  the  word  being  used  in  its  broad  sense, 
now  general.     It  was  first  used  by  the  Germans,  but  as  in  the 
name  throwers,  the  Allies  soon  gained  the  ascendency. 


SJ 


NEW  METHODS  OF  WARFARE  225 

The  first  use  of  asphyxiating  gas  was  by  the  Germans  during 
the  first  battle  of  Ypres.  There  the  deadly  compound  was  mixed 
in  huge  reservoirs  back  of  the  German  lines.  From  these  extended 
a  system  of  pipes  with  vents  pointed  toward  the  British  and 
Canadian  lines.  Waiting  until  air  currents  were  moving  steadily 
westward,  the  Germans  opened  the  stop-cocks  shortly  after  mid- 
night and  the  poisonous  fumes  swept  slowly,  relentlessly  forward  in  a 
greenish  cloud  that  moved  close  to  the  earth.  The  result  of  that 
fiendish  and  cowardly  act  was  that  thousands  of  men  died  hi 
horrible  agony  without  a  chance  for  their  lives. 

Besides  that  first  asphyxiating  gas,  there  soon  developed 
others  even  more  deadly.  The  base  of  most  of  these  was  chlorine. 
Then  came  the  lachrymatory  or  "tear-compelling"  gases,  cal- 
culated to  produce  temporary  or  permanent  blindness.  Another 
German  "triumph"  was  mustard  gas.  This  is  spread  in  gas  shells, 
as  are  all  the  modern  gases.  The  Germans  abandoned  the  cumber- 
some gas-distributing  system  after  the  invention  of  the  gas  shell. 
These  make  a  peculiar  gobbling  sound  as  they  rush  overhead. 
They  explode  with  a  very  slight  noise  and  scatter  their  contents 
broadcast.  The  liquids  carried  by  them  are  usually  of  the  sort 
that  decompose  rapidly  when  exposed  to  the  air  and  give  off  the 
acrid  gases  dreaded  by  the  soldiers.  They  are  directed  against 
the  artillery  as  well  as  against  intrenched  troops.  Every  command, 
no  matter  how  small,  has  its  warning  signal  in  the  shape  of  a  gong 
or  a  siren  warning  of  approaching  gas. 

Gas  masks  were  speedily  discovered  to  offset  the  dangers 
of  poison  gases  of  all  kinds.  These  were  worn  not  only  by  troops 
in  the  field,  but  by  artillery  horses,  pack  mules,  liaison  dogs,  and 
by  the  civilian  inhabitants  in  back  of  the  battle  lines.  Where 
used  quickly  and  in  accordance  with  instructions,  these  masks 
were  a  complete  protection  against  attacks  by  gas. 

The  perfected  gas  masks  used  by  both  sides  contained  a 
chamber  filled  with  a  specially  prepared  charcoal.  Peach  pits 
were  collected  by  the  millions  in  all  the  belligerent  countries  to  make 
this  charcoal,  and  other  vegetable  substances  of  similar  density 
were  also  used.  Anti-gas  chemicals  were  mixed  with  the  charcoal. 
The  wearer  of  the  mask  breathed  entirely  through  the  mouth, 
gripping  a  rubber  mouthpiece  while  his  nose  was  pinched  shut 
by  a  clamp  attached  to  the  mask. 


226  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

In  training,  soldiers  were  required  to  hold  their  breath  for 
six  seconds  while  the  mask  was  being  adjusted.  It  was  explained 
to  them  that  four  breaths  of  the  deadly  chlorine  gas  was  sufficient 
to  kill;  the  first  breath  produced  a  spasm  of  the  glottis;  the  second 
brought  mental  confusion  and  delirium;  the  third  produced  uncon- 
sciousness; and  the  fourth,  death.  The  bag  containing  the  gas 
mask  and  respirator  was  carried  always  by  the  soldier. 

The  soldier  during  the  winter  season  in  the  front  line  trenches 
was  a  grotesque  figure.  TTis  head  was  crowned  with  a  helmet 
covered  with  khaki  because  the  glint  of  steel  would  advertise  his 
whereabouts.  Beneath  the  helmet  he  wore  a  close  fitting  woolen 
cap  pulled  down  tightly  around  his  ears  and  sometimes  tied  or 
buttoned  beneath  his  chin.  Suspended  upon  his  chest  was  the 
khaki  bag  containing  gas  mask  and  respirator.  Over  his  outer 
garments  were  his  belt,  brace  straps,  bayonet  and  ammunition 
pouches.  His  rifle  was  slung  upon  his  shoulder  with  the  foot  of  a 
woolen  sock  covering  the  muzzle  and  the  leg  of  the  same  sock 
wrapped  around  the  breech.  A  large  jerkin  made  of  leather, 
without  sleeves,  was  worn  over  the  short  coat.  Long  rubber  boots 
reaching  to  the  hips  and  strapped  at  ankle  and  hip  completely 
covered  his  legs.  When  anticipating  trench  raids,  or  on  a  raiding 
party,  a  handy  trench  knife  and  carefully  slung  grenades  were 
added  to  his  equipment. 

Airplane  bombing  ultimately  changed  the  whole  character  of 
the  war.  It  extended  the  fighting  lines  miles  behind  the  battle 
front.  It  brought  the  horrors  of  night  attacks  upon  troops  resting 
in  billets.  It  visited  destruction  and  death  upon  the  civilian  popu- 
lation of  cities  scores  of  miles  back  of  the  actual  front. 

Germany  transgressed  repeatedly  the  laws  of  humanity  by 
bombing  hospitals  far  behind  the  battle  front.  Describing  one  of 
these  atrocious  attacks,  which  took  place  May  29,  1918,  Colonel 
G.  H.  Andrews,  chaplain  of  a  Canadian  regiment,  said: 

"The  building  bombed  was  one  of  three  large  Red  Cross 
hospitals  ^  at  Bpulenes  and  was  filled  with  Allied  wounded.  A 
hospital  in  which  were  a  number  of  wounded  German  prisoners 
stood  not  very  far  away. 

"The  Germans  could  not  possibly  have  mistaken  the  building 
they  bombed  for  anything  else  but  a  hospital.  There  were  flags 
*ith  a  red  cross  flying,  and  lights  were  turned  on  them  so  that 


NEW  METHODS  OF  WARFARE 

they  would  show  prominently.  And  the  windows  were  brilliantly 
lighted.  Those  inside  heard  the  buzz  of  the  advancing  airplanes, 
but  did  not  give  them  a  thought, 

"The  machines  came  right  on,  ignoring  the  hospital  with  the 
German  wounded,  indicating  they  had  full  knowledge  of  their 
objective,  until  they  were  over  a  wing  of  the  Red  Cross  hospital 
that  contained  the  operating  room  on  the  ground  floor.  In  the 
operating  room  a  man  was  on  the  table  for  a  most  difficult  surgical 
feat.  Around  him  were  gathered  the  staff  of  the  hospital  and  its 
brilliant  surgeons.  Lieutenant  Sage  of  New  York  had  just  given 
him  the  anesthetic  when  one  of  the  airplanes  let  the  bomb  drop. 
It  was  a  big  fellow.  It  must  have  been  all  of  250  pounds  of  high 
explosive. 

"It  hurtled  downward,  carrying  the  two  floors  before  it. 
Through  the  gap  thus  made  wounded  men,  the  beds  hi  which  they 
lay,  convalescents,  and  all  on  the  floors  came  crashing  down  to  the 
ground.  The  bomb's  force  extended  itself  to  wreck  the  operating 
room,  where  the  ma,n  on  the  table,  Lieutenant  Sage,  and  all  in  the 
room  were  killed.  In  all  there  were  thirty-seven  lives  lost,  includ- 
ing three  Red  Cross  nurses. 

"The  building  caught  fire.  The  concussion  had  blown  the 
stairs  down,  so  that  escape  from  the  upper  floors  seemed  impossi- 
ble. But  the  convalescents  and  the  soldiers,  who  had  run  to  the 
scene  of  the  bombing,  let  the  very  ill  ones  out  of  the  windows,  and 
escape  was  made  hi  that  way. 

"And  then,  to  cap  the  climax,'  the  German  airplanes  returned 
over  the  spot  of  their  ghastly  triumph  and  fired  on  the  rescuers 
with  machine  guns.  God  will  never  forgive  the  Huns  for  that  act 
alone.  Nor  will  our  comrades  ever  forget  it." 

The  statement  of  Colonel  Andrews  was  corroborated  by  a 
number  of  other  officers. 

To  protect  artillery  against  counter-fire  of  all  kinds,  both  sides 
from  the  begmning  used  the  art  of  camouflage.  This  was  resorted 
to  particularly  against  scouting  airplanes.  At  first  the  branches 
of  trees  and  similar  natural  cover  were  used  to  deceive  the  airmen. 
Later  the  guns  themselves  were  painted  with  protective  colora- 
tions, and  screens  of  burlap  were  used  instead  of  branches.  The 
camoufleur,  as  the  camouflage  artist  was  called,  speedily  extended 
his  activities  to  screens  over  highways,  preventing  airmen  from 


228  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

seeing  troops  in  motion,  to  the  protective  coloration  of  lookout 
posts,  and  of  other  necessary  factors  along  the  fighting  front. 
Camouflage  also  found  great  usefulness  hi  the  protective  colora- 
tion of  battleships  and  merchant  vessels.  Scientific  study  went 
hand  hi  hand  with  the  art,  the  object  being  to  confuse  the  enemy 
and  to  offer  targets  as  small  as  possible  to  the  enemy  gunners. 

Crater  warfare  came  as  a  development  of  intensified  artillery 
attacks  upon  trench  systems.  It  was  at  Dunajec  on  the  eastern 
front  that  for  the  first  tune  in  modern  war  the  wheels  of  artillery 
were  placed  hub  to  hub  in  intensified  hurricane  fire  upon  enemy 
positions.  The  result  there  under  von  Mackensen's  direction  was 
the  rout  of  the  Russians.  When  later  the  same  tactics  were 
employed  on  the  western  front,  the  result  was  to  destroy  whole 
trench  systems  with  the  exception  of  deep  dugouts,  and  to  send 
the  occupants  of  the  trenches  into  the  craters,  made  by  shell 
explosions,  for  protection. 

It  was  observed  that  these  craters  made  excellent  cover  and 
when  linked  by  vigorous  use  of  the  intrenching  tools  carried  by 
every  soldier,  they  made  a  fair  substitute  for  the  trenches.  This 
observation  gave  root  to  an  idea  which  was  followed  by  both 
armies;  this  was  the  deliberate  creation  of  crater  systems  by  the 
artillery  of  the  attacking  force.  Into  these  lines  of  craters  the 
attacking  inf antry  threw  itself  hi  wave  after  wave  as  it  rushed  toward 
the  enemy  trenches.  The  ground  is  so  riddled  by  this  intensive 
artillery  fire  that  there  is  created  what  is  known  as  "moon  terrain", 
fields  resembling  the  surface  of  the  moon  as  seen  through  a  powerful 
telescope.  Troops  on  both  sides  were  trained  to  utilize  these 
shell  holes  to  the  utmost,  each  little  group  occupying  a  crater, 
keeping  hi  touch  with  its  nearest  group  and  moving  steadily  hi 
unison  toward  the  enemy. 

One  detail  hi  which  this  war  surpassed  all  others  was  in  the 
use  of  machine  guns  and  grenades.  The  Germans  were  first  to 
make  extensive  use  of  the  machine  gun  as  a  weapon  with  which 
to  produce  an  effective  barrage.  They  established  machine-gun 
nests  at  frequent  intervals  commanding  the  zone  over  which 
infantry  was  to  advance  and  by  skilful  crossfire  kept  that  terrain 
free  from  every  living  thing.  The  Germans  preferred  a  machine 
gun,  water  cooled  and  of  the  barrel-recoil  type.  The  English 
used  a  Vickers-Maxim  and  a  Lewis  gun,  the  latter  the  invention  of 


NEW  METHODS  OF  WARFARE  229 

an  officer  in  the  American  army.  The  French  preferred  the 
Hotchkiss  and  the  Saint-Etienne.  The  Americans  standardized 
the  Browning  light  and  heavy  machine  guns,  and  these  did  effective 
service.  It  was  asserted  by  American  gunnery  experts  that  the 
Browning  excels  all  other  weapons  of  its  type. 

Two  general  types  of  grenades  were  used  on  both  sides.  One 
a  defensive  bomb  about  the  size  of  an  orange,  containing  a  bursting 
charge  weighing  twenty-two  ounces.  Then  there  was  a  grenade 
used  for  offensive  work  carrying  about  thirty-two  ounces  of  high 
explosives.  The  defensive  grenades  were  of  cast  iron  and  so  made 
that  they  burst  into  more  than  a  hundred  jagged  pieces  when  they 
exploded.  These  wounded  or  killed  within  a  radius  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards.  In  exceptional  instances,  the  range  was  higher. 

The  function  of  artillery  hi  a  modern  battle  is  constantly 
extending.  Both  the  big  guns  and  the  howitzers  were  the  deciding 
factors  in  most  of  the  military  decisions  reached  during  the  war. 
Artillery  is  divided  first  between  the  big  guns  having  a  compara- 
tively flat  trajectory  and  the  howitzers  whose  trajectory  is  curved. 
Then  there  is  a  further  division  into  these  four  classes: 

Field  artillery, 

Heavy  artillery, 

Railroad  artillery, 

Trench  artillery. 

The  type  of  field  artillery  is  the  famous  75-millimeter  gun 
used  interchangeably  by  the  French  and  Americans.  It  is  a  quick- 
firing  weapon  and  is  used  against  attacking  masses  and  for  the 
various  kind  of  barrages,  including  an  anti-aircraft  barrage. 

Included  hi  the  heavy  artillery  are  guns  and  howitzers  of 
larger  caliber  than  the  75-millimeter.  Three  distinct  and  terrify- 
ing noises  accompany  explosions  of  these  guns.  First,  there  is  the 
explosion  when  the  shell  leaves  the  gun;  then  there  is  the  peculiar 
rattling  noise  like  the  passing  of  a  railway  train  when  the  shells 
pass  overhead;  then  there  is  the  explosion  at  point  of  contact,  a 
terrific  concussion  which  produces  the  human  condition  called 
"shell-shock,"  a  derangement  of  body  and  brain,  paralyzing  nerve 
and  muscle  centers  and  frequently  producing  insanity. 

The  railroad  artillery  comprises  huge  guns  pulled  on  railways 
by  locomotives,  each  gun  having  a  number  of  cars  as  part  of  its 
equipment.  These  are  slow-firing  guns  of  great  power  and  hurling 


230  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  largest  projectiles  known  to  warfare.  The  largest  guns  of 
this  class  were  produced  by  American  inventive  genius  as  a  reply 
to  the  German  gun  of  St.  Gobain  Forest.  This  was  a  weapon  which 
hurled  a  nine-inch  shell  from  a  distance  of  sixty-two  miles  into  the 
heart  of  Paris.  The  damage  done  by  it  was  comparatively  slight 
and  it  had  no  appreciable  effect  upon  the  morale  of  the  Parisians. 

Its  greatest  damage  was  when  it  struck  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  of  St.  Gervais  on  Good  Friday,  March  29,  1918,  killing 
seventy-five  persons  and  wounding  ninety.  Fifty-four  of  those 
killed  were  women,  five  being  Americans.  The  total  effect  of  the 
bombardment  by  this  big  gun  was  to  arouse  France,  England  and 
America  to  a  fiercer  fighting  pitch.  The  late  Cardinal  Farley, 
Archbishop  of  New  York,  expressed  this  sentiment,  when  he  sent 
the  following  message  to  the  Archbishop  of  Paris: 

Shocked  by  the  brutal  killing  of  innocent  victims  gathered  at  religious 
services  to  commemorate  the  passing  of  our  blessed  Saviour  on  Good 
Friday,  the  Catholics  of  New  York  join  your  noble  protest  against  this 
outrage  of  the  sanctuary  on  such  a  day  and  at  such  an  hour  and,  express- 
ing their  sympathy  to  the  bereaved  relatives  of  the  dead  and  injured, 
pledge  their  unfaltering  allegiance  in  support  of  the  common  cause  that 
unites  our  two  great  republics.  May  God  bless  the  brave  officers  and  men 
of  the  Allied  armies  in  their  splendid  defense  of  liberty  and  justice! 

Trench  artillery  are  Stokes  guns  and  other  mortars  hurling 
aerial  torpedoes  containing  great  quantities  of  high  explosives. 
These  have  curved  trajectories  and  are  effective  not  only  against 
trenches  but  also  against  deep  dugouts,  wire  entanglements  and 
listening  posts. 

One  of  the  most  important  details  of  modern  warfare  is  that  of 
communication  or  liaison  on  the  battlefield.  This  is  accomplished 
by  runners  recruited  from  the  trenches,  by  dogs,  pigeons,  telephone, 
radio. 

As  has  been  heretofore  stated,  the  airplane  considered  in  all 
its  developments,  is  the  newest  and  most  important  of  factors  in 
modern  warfare.  It  photographs  the  enemy  positions,  it  detects 
concentrations  and  other  movements  of  the  enemy,  it  makes 
surprise  impossible,  it  is  a  deadly  engine  of  destruction  when 
used  in  spraying  machine-gun  fire  upon  troops  in  the  open.  As 
a  bombing  device,  it  surpasses  the  best  and  most  accurate 
artillery. 


CHAPTER  XV 
GERMAN  PLOTS  AND  PROPAGANDA  IN  AMERICA 

THE  pages  of  Germany's  militaristic  history  are  black  with 
many  shameful  deeds  and  plots.     Those  pages  upon  which 
are  written  the  intrigues  against  the  peace  of  America  and 
against    the    lives    and    properties    of   American    citizens 
luring  the  period  between  the  declaration  of  war  hi  1914  and  the 
irmistice  ending  the  war,  while  not  so  bloody  as  those  relating  to 
:he  atrocities  in  Belgium  and  Northern  France  are  still  revolting 
:o  civilized  mankind. 

Germany  not  only  paid  for  the  murder  of  passengers  on  ships 
tvhere  its  infernal  machines  were  placed,  not  only  conspired  for 
:he  destruction  of  munition  plants  and  factories  of  many  kinds, 
lot  only  sought  to  embroil  the  United  States,  then  neutral,  hi  a 
tfar  with  Mexico  and  Japan,  but  it  committed  also  the  crime  of 
nurderous  hypocrisy  by  conspiring  to  do  these  wrongs  under  the 
jloak  of  friendship  for  this  country. 

It  was  in  December  of  1915  that  the  German  Government 
sent  to  the  United  States  for  general  publication  hi  American  news- 
papers this  statement: 

The  German  Government  nas  naturally  never  knowingly  accepted 
;he  support  of  any  person,  group  of  persons,  society  or  organization  seek- 
ng  to  promote  the  cause  of  Germany  in  the  United  States  by  illegal  acts, 
>y  counsel  of  violence,  by  contravention  of  law,  or  by  any  means  what- 
jver  that  could  offend  the  American  people  hi  the  pride  of  their  own 
tuthority. 

The  answer  to  this  imperial  lie  came  from  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  when,  in  his  address  to  Congress,  April  2,  1917, 
irging  a  declaration  of  war  on  Germany,  he  characterized  the  Ger- 
nan  spy  system  and  its  frightful  fruits  in  the  following  language: 

"One  of  the  things  that  has  served  to  convince  us  that  the 
Prussian  autocracy  was  not  and  could  never  be  our  friend  is  that 
from  the  very  outset  of  the  present  war  it  has  filled  our  unsus- 

231 


232  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

pecting  communities,  and  even  our  offices  of  government,  with 
spies,  and  set  criminal  intrigues  everywhere  afoot  against  our 
national  unity  of  counsel,  our  peace  within  and  without,  our 
industries  and  our  commerce.  Indeed  it  is  now  evident  that  its 
spies  were  here  even  before  the  war  began;  and  it  is  unhappily 
not  a  matter  of  conjecture,  but  a  fact  proved  in  our  courts  of 
justice,  that  the  intrigues  which  have  more  than  once  come 
perilously  near  to  disturbing  the  peace  and  dislocating  the  indus- 
tries of  the  country  have  been  carried  on  at  the  instigation,  with 
the  support,  and  even  under  the  personal  direction  of  official 
agents  of  the  Imperial  Government  accredited  to  the  Government 
of  the  United  States." 

Austria  co-operated  with  Germany  in  a  feeble  way  in  these 
plots  and  propaganda,  but  the  master  plotter  was  Count  Johann 
von  Bernstorff,  Germany's  Ambassador.  The  Austro-Hungarian 
Ambassador,  Constantin  Theodor  Dumba,  Captain  Franz  von 
Papen,  Captain  Karl  Boy-Ed,  Dr.  Heinrich  F.  Albert,  and  Wolf 
von  Igel,  all  of  whom  were  attached  to  the  German  Embassy, 
were  associates  in  the  intrigues.  Franz  von  Rintelen  operated 
independently  and  received  his  funds  and  instructions  directly 
from  Berlin. 

One  of  the  earliest  methods  of  creating  disorder  in  American 
munition  plants  and  other  industrial  establishments  engaged  in 
war  work  was  through  labor  disturbances.  With  that  end  in 
view  a  general  German  employment  bureau  was  established  in 
August,  1915,  in  New  York  City.  It  had  branches  in  Philadelphia, 
Bridgeport,  Pittsburgh,  Cleveland,  Chicago  and  Cincinnati.  These 
cities  at  that  tune  were  the  centers  of  industries  engaged  in  furnish- 
ing munitions  and  war  supplies  to  the  Entente  allies.  Concerning 
this  enterprise  Ambassador  Dumba,  writing  to  Baron  Burian, 
Foreign  Minister  of  Austria-Hungary,  said: 

A  private  German  employment  office  has  been  established  which 
provides  employment  for  persons  who  have  voluntarily  given  up  their 
places,  and  it  is  already  working  well.  We  shall  also  join  in  and  the 
widest  support  is  assured  us. 

The  duties  of  men  sent  from  the  German  employment  offices 
into  munition  plants  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  frank 
circular  issued  on  November  2,  1914,  by  the  German  General 
Headquarters  and  reprinted  in  the  Freie  Zeitung,  of  Berne. 


PLOTS  AND  PROPAGANDA  233 

GENERAL  HEADQUARTERS  TO  THE  MILITARY  REPRESENTATIVE 

ON  THE  RUSSIAN  AND  FRENCH  FRONTS,  AS  WELL  AS  IN 

ITALY  AND  NORWAY. 

In  all  branch  establishments  of  German  banking  houses  in  Sweden, 
Norway,  Switzerland,  China  and  the  United  States,  special  military 
accounts  have  been  opened  for  special  war  necessities.  Main  headquarters 
authorizes  you  to  use  these  credits  to  an  unlimited  extent  for  the  purpose 
of  destroying  factories,  workshops,  camps,  and  the  most  important  centers 
of  military  and  civil  supply  belonging  to  the  enemy.  In  addition  to  the 
incitement  of  labor  troubles,  measures  must  bo.  taken  for  the  damaging 
of  engines  and  machinery  plants,  the  destruction  of  vessels  carrying  war 
material  to  enemy  countries,  the  burning  of  stocks  of  raw  materials  and 
finished  goods,  and  the  depriving  of  large  industrial  centers  of  electric 
power,  fuel  and  food.  Special  agents,  who  will  be  placed  at  your  disposal, 
will  supply  you  with  the  necessary  means  for  effecting  explosions  and  fires, 
as  well  as  with  a  list  of  people  in  the  country  under  your  supervision  who 
are  willing  to  undertake  the  task  of  destruction. 

(Signed)     DR.  E.  FISCHER. 

Shortly  after  the  establishment  of  the  German  employment 
bureau,  Ambassador  Dumba  sent  the  following  communication  to 
the  Austrian  Foreign  Office: 

It  is  my  impression  that  we  can  disorganize  and  hold  up  for  months, 
if  not  entirely  prevent,  the  manufacture  of  munitions  in  Bethlehem  and 
the  Middle  West,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  German  military  attache1, 
is  of  importance  and  amply  outweighs  the  comparatively  small  expenditure 
of  money  involved. 

Concerning  the  operations  of  the  arson  and  murder  squad 
organized  by  von  Bernstorff,  Dumba  and  their  associates,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  turn  to  the  records  of  the  criminal  courts  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  Take  for  example  the  case  against 
Albert  Kaltschmidt,  living  in  Detroit,  Michigan.  The  United 
States  grand  jury  sitting  in  Detroit  indicted  Kaltschmidt  and  his 
fellow  conspirators  upon  the  following  counts : 

"To  blow  up  the  factory  of  the  Peabody's  Company,  Limited, 
at  Walkerville,  Ontario,  .  .  .  engaged  in  manufacturing  uniforms, 
clothing  and  military  supplies.  .  .  . 

"To  blow  up  the  building  known  as  the  Windsor  Armories 
of  the  City  of  Windsor.  .  .  . 

"To  blow  up  and  destroy  other  plants  and  buildings  in  said 
Dominion  of  Canada,  which  were  used  for  the  manufacture  of 
munitions  of  war,  clothing  and  uniforms. 

18 


88*  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

"To  blow  up  and  destroy  the  great  railroad  bridges  of  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railroad  at  Nipigon.  .  .  . 

"To  employ  and  send  into  said  Dominion  of  Canada  spies  to 
obtain  military  information." 

Besides  the  acts  enumerated  in  the  indictment  it  was  proved 
upon  trial  that  Kaltschmidt  and  his  gang  planned  to  blow  up 
the  Detroit  Screw  Works  where  shrapnel  was  being  manufactured, 
and  to  destroy  the  St.  Clair  tunnel,  connecting  Canada  with  the 
United  States.  Both  of  these  plans  failed.  Associated  with 
Kaltschmidt  in  these  plots  were  Captain  von  Papen,  Baron  Kurt 
von  Reiswitz,  German  consul-general  hi  Chicago;  Charles  F. 
Respa,  Richard  Herman,  and  William  M.  Jarasch,  the  latter 
two  German  reservists.  Testifying  hi  the  case  Jarasch,  a  bartender, 
said:  "Jacobsen  (an  aide)  told  me  that  munition  factories  in 
Canada  were  to  be  blown  up.  Before  I  left  for  Detroit,  Jacobsen 
and  I  went  to  the  consulate.  We  saw  the  consul  and  he  shook 
hands  with  me  and  wished  me  success," 

Charles  F.  Respa,  in  his  testimony  made  the  following  revela- 
tions in  response  to  questions  by  the  government's  representatives: 

Q.  How  long  had  you  been  employed  before  he  (Kaltschmidt) 
told  you  that  he  wanted  you  to  blow  up  some  of  these  factories? 
A.  About  three  weeks. 

Q.  Did  Kaltschmidt  at  the  time  speak  of  any  particular 
place  that  he  wanted  you  to  blow  up?  A,  The  particular  place 
was  the  Armory. 

Q.  Did  he  mention  the  Peabody  Building  at  that  time? 
A.  Not  particularly— he  was  more  after  the  bridges  and  the 
armories  and  wanted  those  places  blown  up  that  made  ammuni- 
tion and  military  clothing. 

Q.  The  explosion  at  the  armories  was  to  be  timed  so  that  it 
would  occur  when  the  soldiers  were  asleep  there?  A.  Yes— he 
did  not  mention  that  he  wanted  to  kill  soldiers. 

Q.  Did  he  say  that  if  the  dynamite  in  the  suitcase  exploded 
it  would  kill  the  soldiers?  A.  I  do  not  remember  that  he  said  so, 
but  he  must  have  known  it. 

Q.  Did  you  take  both  grips?    A.  Yes. 

Q.  Where  did  you  set  the  first  grip?  A.  By  the  Peabody 
plant  (blown  up  on  June  20,  1915). 

Q.  Where   did    you    put    the    other    suitcase?      A.  Then  I 


PLOTS  AND  PROPAGANDA  235 

walked  down  the  Walkerville  road  to  the  Armories  at  Windsor, 
and  carried  the  suitcase. 

Q.  When  you  got  to  the  Armories  did  you  know  where  to 
place  it?  A.  I  had  my  instructions. 

Q.  From  Kaltschmidt?    A.  Yes. 

Q.  Did  you  place  this  suitcase  containing  the  dynamite 
bomb  at  the  armory  in  a  proper  place  to  explode  and  do  any 
damage?  A.  Yes. 

Q.  Was  it  properly  connected  so  that  the  cap  would  explode 
and  strike  the  dynamite?  A.  I  fixed  it  so  that  it  would  not. 

Q.  Did  you  deliberately  fix  this  bomb  that  you  took  to  the 
Armories  so  that  it  would  not  explode?  A.  Yes. 

Q.  Why  did  you  do  that?  A.  I  knew  that  the  suitcase 
contained  thirty  sticks  of  dynamite  and  if  exploded  would  blow 
up  the  Armories  and  all  the  ammunition  and  kill  every  man  in  it. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  that  Kaltschmidt 
was  sentenced  to  four  years  in  the  federal  prison  at  Leavenworth, 
Kansas,  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  $20,000.  Horn's  sentence  was  eighteen 
months  in  the  Atlanta  penitentiary  and  a  fine  of  $1,000. 

Attempts  were  also  made  to  close  by  explosions  the  tunnels 
through  which  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railroad  passes  under  the 
Selkirk  Mountains  in  British  Columbia.  The  German  General 
Staff  in  this  instance  operated  through  Franz  Bopp,  the  German 
consul-general  in  San  Francisco,  and  Lieutenant  von  Brincken. 
J.  H.  van  Koolbergen  was  hired  to  do  this  work.  Concerning  the 
negotiations,  van  Koolbergen  made  this  statement: 

"Not  knowing  what  he  wanted  I  went  to  see  him.  He  was 
very  pleasant  and  told  me  that  he  was  an  officer  in  the  German 
army  and  at  present  working  in  the  secret  service  of  the  German 
Empire  under  Mr.  Franz  Bopp,  the  Imperial  German  consul. 

"I  went  to  the  consulate  and  met  Franz  Bopp  and  then  saw 
von  Brincken  in  another  room.  He  asked  me  if  I  would  do  some- 
thing for  him  in  Canada  and  I  answered  him,  '  Sure,  I  will  do  some- 
thing, even  blow  up  bridges,  if  there  is  money  in  it.'  And  he  said, 
'You  are  the  man;  if  that  is  so,  you  can  make  good  money.' 

"Von  Brincken  told  me  that  they  were  willing  to  send  me  up 
to  Canada  to  blow  up  one  of  the  bridges  on  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railroad  or  one  of  the  tunnels.  I  asked  him  what  was  in  it  and  he 
said  he  would  talk  it  over  with  the  German  consul,  Bopp. 


236  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

"I  had  accepted  von  Brincken's  proposition  to  go  to  Canada 
and  he  offered  me  $500  to  defray  my  expenses.  On  different 
occasions,  in  his  room,  von  Brincken  showed  me  maps  and  informa- 
tion about  Canada,  and  pointed  out  to  me  where  he  wanted  the 
act  to  be  done.  This  was  to  be  between  Revelstake  and  Vancouver 
on  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railroad,  and  I  was  to  get  $3,000  in  case 
of  a  successful  blowing  up  of  a  military  bridge  or  tunnel." 

Van  Koolbergen  only  made  a  pretended  effort  to  blow  up  the 
tunnel.  He  did  furnish  the  evidence,  however,  which  served  to 
send  Bopp  and  his  associates  to  the  penitentiary. 

Even  more  sensational  was  the  plot  against  the  international 
bridge  upon  which  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  crosses  the  border 
between  the  United  States  and  Canada  at  Vanceboro,  Me. 

Werner  Horn  was  a  German  reserve  lieutenant.  Von  Papen 
delivered  to  him  a  flat  order  to  blow  up  the  bridge  and  he  gave 
hun  $700  for  the  purpose  of  perpetrating  the  outrage.  Horn  was 
partially  successful.  At  his  trial  in  Boston  in  June,  1917,  he  made 
the  folio  whig  confession: 

"I  admit  and  state  that  the  facts  set  forth  hi  the  indictments 
as  to  the  conveyance  of  explosives  on  certain  passenger  trams 
from  New  York  to  Boston  and  from  Boston  to  Vanceboro,  in  the 
State  of  Maine,  are  true.  I  did,  as  therein  alleged,  receive  an  explo- 
sive and  conveyed  the  same  from  the  city  of  New  York  to  Boston, 
thence  by  common  carrier  from  Boston  to  Vanceboro,  Maine. 
On  or  about  the  night  of  February  1,  1915,  I  took  said  explosive 
in  a  suitcase  hi  which  I  was  conveying  it  and  carried  the  same 
across  the  bridge  at  Vanceboro  to  the  Canadian  side,  and  there, 
about  1.10  hi  the  morning  of  February  2,  1915,  I  caused  said  explo- 
sive to  be  exploded  near  or  against  the  abutments  of  the  bridge 
on  the  Canadian  side,  with  intent  to  destroy  the  abutment  and 
cripple  the  bridge  so  that  the  same  could  not  be  used  for  the  passage 
of  trains." 

Bribery  of  Congressmen  was  intended  by  Franz  von  Rintelen, 
operating  directly  hi  touch  with  the  German  Foreign  Office  in 
Berlin.  Count  von  Bernstorff  sent  the  following  telegram  to 
Berlin  in  connection  with  his  plan: 

I  request  authority  to  pay  out  up  to  $50,000  in  order,  as  on  former 

isions,  to  influence  Congress  through  the  organization  you  know  of, 

which  can  perhaps  prevent  war.     I  am  beginning  in  the  meantime  to  act 


PLOTS  AND   PROPAGANDA  237 

accordingly.  In  the  above  circumstances,  a  public  official  German 
declaration  in  favor  of  Ireland  is  highly  desirable,  in  order  to  gain  the 
support  of  the  Irish  influence  here 

That  it  was  Rintelen's  purpose  to  use  large  sums  of  money 
for  the  purpose  of  bribing  Congressmen  was  stated  positively  by 
George  Plochman,  treasurer  of  the  Transatlantic  Trust  Company, 
where  Rintelen  kept  his  deposits. 

Rintelen  was  the  main  figure  on  this  side  of  the  water  in  the 
fantastic  plot  to  have  Mexico  and  Japan  declare  war  upon  the 
United  States.  During  the  trial  of  Rintelen  in  New  York  City 
in  May,  1917,  it  was  testified  "that  he  came  to  the  United  States 
in  order  to  embroil  it  with  Mexico  and  Japan  if  necessary;  that 
he  was  doing  all  he  could  and  was  going  to  do  all  he  could  to  embroil 
this  country  with  Mexico;  that  he  believed  that  if  the  United 
States  had  a  war  with  Mexico  it  would  stop  the  shipment  of  ammu- 
nition to  Europe;  that  he  believed  it  would  be  only  a  matter  of 
tune  until  we  were  involved  with  Japan." 

Rintelen  also  said  that  "General  Huerta  was  going  to  return 
to  Mexico  and  start  a  revolution  there  which  would  cause  the 
United  States  to  intervene  and  so  make  it  impossible  to  ship  muni- 
tions to  Europe.  Intervention,"  he  said,  "was  one  of  his  trump 
cards." 

Mexico  was  the  happy  hunting-ground  for  pro-German  plotters, 
and  the  German  Ambassador  hi  Mexico,  Heinrich  von  Eckhardt, 
was  the  leader  in  all  the  intrigues.  The  culmination  of  Germany's 
effort  against  America  on  this  continent  came  on  January  19, 
1917,  when  Dr.  Alfred  Zimmerman,  head  of  the  German  Foreign 
Office,  sent  the  following  cable  to  Ambassador  von  Eckhardt: 

On  the  first  of  February  we  intend  to  begin  submarine  warfare 
unrestricted.  In  spite  of  this,  it  is  our  intention  to  endeavor  to  keep 
neutral  the  United  States  of  America. 

If  this  attempt  is  not  successful,  we  propose  an  alliance  on  the  follow- 
ing basis  with  Mexico:  That  we  shall  make  war  together  and  together 
make  peace.  We  shall  give  general  financial  support,  and  it  is  under- 
stood that  Mexico  is  to  reconquer  the  lost  territory  in  New  Mexico,  Texas 
and  Arizona.  The  details  are  left  to  you  for  settlement.  You  are 
instructed  to  inform  the  President  of  Mexico  of  the  above  in  the  greatest 
confidence  as  soon  as  it  is  certain  that  there  will  be  an  outbreak  of  war 
with  the  United  States,  and  suggest  that  the  President  of  Mexico,  on  his 


238  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

own  initiative,  should  communicate  with  Japan  suggesting  adherence 
at  once  to  this  plan;  at  the  same  time,  offer  to  mediate  between  Germany 

and  Japan. 

Please  call  to  the  attention  of  the  President  of  Mexico  that  the 
employment  of  ruthless  submarine  warfare  now  promises  to  compel 
England  to  make  peace  in  a  few  months. 

ZIMMERMAN. 

This  was  almost  three  months  before  the  United  States  entered 
the  war.  As  an  example  of  German  blindness  and  diplomatic 
folly  it  stands  unrivaled  in  the  annals  of  the  German  Foreign 
Office. 

Plots  against  shipping  were  the  deadliest  in  which  the  German 
conspirators  engaged.  Death  and  destruction  followed  hi  then- 
wake.  In  direct  connection  of  von  Bernstorff  and  his  tools  with 
these  outrages  the  following  testimony  by  an  American  secret 
service  man  employed  by  Wolf  von  Igel  is  interesting.  It  refers 
to  an  appointment  with  Captain  von  Kleist,  superintendent  of 
Scheele's  bomb  factory  in  Hoboken,  N.  J. 

"We  sat  down  and  we  spoke  for  about  three  hours.  I  asked 
him  the  different  things  that  he  did,  and  said  if  he  wanted  an  inter- 
view with  Mr.  von  Igel,  my  boss,  he  would  have  to  tell  everything. 
So  he  told  me  that  von  Papen  gave  Dr.  Scheele,  the  partner  of 
von  Kleist  in  this  factory,  a  check  for  $10,000  to  start  this  bomb 
factory.  He  told  me  that  he,  Mr.  von  Kleist,  and  Dr.  Scheele 
and  a  man  by  the  name  of  Becker  on  the  Friedrich  der  Grosse  were 
making  the  bombs,  and  that  Captain  Wolpert,  Captain  Bode  and 
Captain  Steinberg,  had  charge  of  putting  these  bombs  on  the  ships; 
they  put  these  bombs  in  cases  and  shipped  them  as  merchandise 
on  these  steamers,  and  they  would  go  away  on  the  trip  and  the 
bombs  would  go  off  after  the  ship  was  out  four  or  five  days,  causing 
a  fire  and  causing  the  cargo  to  go  up  in  flames.  He  also  told  me 
that  they  have  made  quite  a  number  of  these  bombs;  that  thirty 
of  them  were  given  to  a  party  by  the  name  of  O'Leary,  and  that 
he  took  them  down  to  New  Orleans  where  he  had  charge  of  putting 
them  on  ships  down  there,  this  fellow  O'Leary." 

About  four  hundred  bombs  were  made  under  von  IgePs  direc- 
tion; explosions  and  fires  were  caused  by  them  on  thirty-three 
ships  sailing  from  New  York  harbor  alone. 

Four  of  the  bombs  were  found  at  Marseilles  on  a  vessel  which 


PLOTS  AND  PROPAGANDA  239 

sailed  from  Brooklyn  in  May,  1915.  The  evidence  collected  in 
the  case  led  to  the  indictment  of  the  following  men  for  feloniously 
transporting  on  the  steamship  Kirk  Oswald  a  bomb  or  bombs 
filled  with  chemicals  designed  to  cause  incendiary  fires:  Rintelen, 
Wolpert,  Bode,  Schmidt,  Becker,  Garbade,  Praedel,  Paradies, 
von  Kleist,  Schimmel,  Scheele,  Steinberg  and  others.  The  last 
three  named  fled  from  justice,  Scheele  being  supplied  with  $1,000 
for  that  purpose  by  Wolf  von  Igel.  He  eluded  the  Federal  author- 
ities until  April,  1918,  when  he  was  found  hiding  in  Cuba  under 
the  protection  of  German  secret  service  agents.  All  the  others 
except  Schmidt  were  found  guilty  and  sentenced,  on  February  5, 
1918,  to  imprisonment  for  eighteen  months  and  payment  of  a  fine 
of  $2,000  each.  It  was  proved  during  the  trial  that  Rintelen  had 
hired  Schimmel,  a  German  lawyer,  to  see  that  bombs  were  placed 
on  ships. 

Schmidt,  von  Kleist,  Becker,  Garbade,  Praedel  and  Paradies 
had  already  been  tried  for  conspiracy  to  make  bombs  for  conceal- 
ment on  ocean-going  vessels,  with  the  purpose  of  setting  the  same 
on  fire.  All  were  found  guilty,  and  on  April  6,  1917,  von  Kleist 
and  Schmidt  were  sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment  and  a 
fine  of  $500  each. 

Robert  Fay,  a  former  officer  in  the  German  army,  who  came  to 
the  United  States  in  April,  1915,  endeavored  to  prevent  the  traffic 
in  munitions  by  smking  the  laden  ships  at  sea.  In  recounting  the 
circumstances  of  his  arrival  here  to  the  chief  of  the  United  States 
secret  service,  Fay  said: 

"...  I  had  in  the  neighborhood  of  $4,000.  .  .  .  This 
money  came  from  a  man  who  sent  me  over  .  .  .  (named) 
Jonnersen.  The  understanding  was  that  it  might  be  worth  while 
to  stop  the  shipment  of  artillery  munitions  from  this  country. 
.  .  .  I  imagined  Jonnersen  to  be  hi  the  (German)  secret  service." 

After  stating  that  he  saw  von  Papen  and  Boy-Ed,  and  that 
neither  would  have  anything  to  do  with  him,  apparently  because 
suspicious  of  his  identity,  Fay  continued: 

"I  did  not  want  to  return  (to  Germany)  without  having 
carried  out  my  intention,  that  is,  the  destruction  of  ships  carrying 
munitions.  I  proceeded  with  my  experiments  and  tried  to  get  hold 
of  as  much  explosive  matter  as  in  any  way  possible.  .  .  ." 

Fay  and  two  confederates  were  arrested  in  a  lonely  spot  near 


240  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Grantwood,  New  Jersey,  while  testing  an  explosive.  During  his 
examination  at  police  headquarters  in  Weehawken  immediately 
after  the  arrest  he  was  questioned  as  follows: 

Q.    That  large  machine  you  have  downstairs,  what  is  that? 

A.    That  is  a  patent  of  mine.     It  is  a  new  way  of  getting  a 

tune  fuse.    .    .    . 

Q.    Did  you  know  where  Scholz  (Fay's  brother-in-law)  had 

this  machine  made? 

A.    In  different  machine  shops.     .     .     . 

Q.  What  material  is  it  you  wanted  (from  Daeche,  an  accom- 
plice)? 

A.    Trinitrotoluol  (T.  N.  T.).    .    .    . 

Q.    How  much  did  the  machinery  cost? 

A.    Roughly  speaking,  $150  or  $200.     .     .     . 

Q.  What  would  be  the  cost  of  making  one  and  filling  it  with 
explosives? 

A.  About  $250  each.  ...  If  they  had  given  me  money 
enough  I  should  simply  have  been  able  to  block  the  shipping  entirely. 

Q.  Do  you  mean  you  could  have  destroyed  every  ship  that 
left  the  harbor  by  means  of  those  bombs? 

A.  I  would  have  been  able  to  stop  so  many  that  the  authorities 
would  not  have  dared  (to  send  out  any  ships). 

It  was  proved  during  Fay's  trial  that  his  bomb  was  a  practical 
device,  and  that  its  forty  pounds  of  explosive  would  sink  any  ship 
to  which  it  was  attached. 

Fay  and  his  accomplices,  Scholz  and  Daeche,  were  convicted 
of  conspiracy  to  attach  explosive  bombs  to  the  rudders  of  vessels, 
with  the  intention  of  wrecking  the  same  when  at  sea,  and  were 
sentenced,  on  May  9,  1916,  to  terms  of  eight,  four  and  two  years 
respectively,  hi  the  federal  penitentiary  at  Atlanta.  Dr.  Herbert 
Kienzle  and  Max  Breitung,  who  assisted  Fay  in  procuring  explo- 
sives, were  indicted  on  the  same  charge.  Both  were  interned. 

Another  plan  for  disabling  ships  was  suggested  by  a  man  who 
remained  for  some  tune  unknown.  He  called  one  day  at  the  German 
Military  Information  Bureau,  maintained  at  60  Wall  Street  by 
Captain  von  Papen,  of  the  German  embassy,  and  there  gave  the 
following  outline  of  his  plan: 

"I  intend  to  cause  serious  damage  to  vessels  of  the  Allies 
leaving  ports  of  the  United  States  by  placing  bombs,  which  I  am 


' 


PLOTS  AND   PROPAGANDA  243 

making  myself,  on  board.  These  bombs  resemble  ordinary  lumps 
of  coal  and  I  am  planning  to  have  them  concealed  in  the  coal  to  be 
laden  on  steamers  of  the  Allies.  I  have  already  discussed  this 
plan  with  ...  at  ...  and  he  thinks  favorably  of  my 
idea.  I  have  been  engaged  on  similar  work  in  ...  after  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  together  with  Mr.  von  .  .  .  ." 

The  German  secret  service  report  from  which  the  above 
excerpt  is  taken  states  that  the  maker  of  the  bomb  was  paid  by 
check  No.  146  for  $150  drawn  on  the  Riggs  National  Bank  of 
Washington.  A  photographic  copy  of  this  check  shows  that  it 
was  payable  to  Paul  Koenig,  of  the  Hamburg- American  Line,  and 
was  signed  by  Captain  von  Papen.  On  the  counterfoil  is  written 
this  memorandum,  "For  F.  J.  Busse."  Busse  confessed  later 
that  he  had  discussed  with  Captain  von  Papen  at  the  German 
Club  in  New  York  City  the  plan  of  damaging  the  boilers  of  munition 
ships  with  bombs  which  resembled  lumps  of  coal. 

Free  access  to  Allied  ships  laden  with  supplies  for  Vladivostok 
would  have  been  invaluable  to  the  conspirators,  and  in  order  to 
obtain  it  Charles  C.  Crowley,  a  detective  employed  by  Consul- 
General  Bopp,  resorted  to  the  extraordinary  scheme  revealed  in  the 
following  letter  to  Madam  Bakhmeteff,  wife  of  the  Russian 
Ambassador  to  the  United  States : 

MME  J.  BAKHMETEFF,  care  Imperial  Russian  Embassy,  Newport,  R.  L: 

DEAR  MADAM  : — By  direction  of  the  Imperial  Russian  Consul-General 
of  San  Francisco,  I  beg  to  submit  the  following  on  behalf  of  several  fruit- 
growers of  the  State  of  California.  As  it  is  the  wish  of  certain  growers 
to  contribute  several  tons  of  dried  fruit  to  the  Russian  Red  Cross  they 
desire  to  have  arrangements  made  to  facilitate  the  transportation  of  this 
fruit  from  Tacoma,  Washington,  to  Vladivostok,  and  as  we  are  advised 
that  steamships  are  regularly  plying  between  Tacoma  and  Vladivostok 
upon  which  government  supplies  are  shipped  we  would  like  to  have 
arrangements  made  that  these  fruits  as  they  might  arrive  would  be  regu- 
larly consigned  to  these  steamers  and  forwarded.  It  would  be  necessary, 
therefore,  that  an  understanding  be  had  with  the  agents  of  these  steam- 
ship lines  at  Tacoma  that  immediate  shipments  be  made  via  whatever 
steamers  might  be  sailing. 

It  is  the  desire  of  the  donors  that  there  be  no  delay  in  the  shipments 
as  delays  would  lessen  the  benefits  intended  to  those  for  whom  the  fruit 
was  provided.  .  .  . 

Respectfully  yours, 

C.  C.  CROWLEY. 


244  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  statements  of  Louis  J.  Smith  and  van  Koolbergen,  com- 
bined with  a  mass  of  other  evidence  consisting  in  part  of  letters 
and  telegrams,  caused  the  grand  jury  to  indict  Consul-General 
Bopp,  his  staff  and  his  hired  agents,  for  conspiracy  to  undertake 
a  military  enterprise  against  Canada.  Among  the  purposes  of  this 
enterprise  specified  hi  the  indictment  was  the  following: 

"To  blow  up  and  destroy  with  their  cargoes  and  crews  any 
and  all  vessels  belonging  to  Great  Britain,  France,  Japan  or  Russia 
found  within  the  limits  of  Canada,  which  were  laden  with  horses, 
munitions  of  war,  or  articles  of  commerce  in  course  of  transporta- 
tion to  the  above  countries.  .  .  ." 

The  following  descriptions  have  been  made  by  the  United 
States  Government  of  the  tools  of  von  Bernstorff  in  German  plots : 

Paul  Koenig,  the  head  of  the  Hamburg-American  secret  serv- 
ice, who  was  active  in  passport  frauds,  who  induced  Gustave  Stahl 
to  perjure  himself  and  declare  the  Lusitania  armed,  and  who  plotted 
the  destruction  of  the  Welland  Canal.  In  his  work  as  a  spy  he 
passed  under  thirteen  aliases  hi  this  country  and  Canada. 

Captains  Boy-Ed,  von  Papen,  von  Rintelen,  Tauscher,  and  von 
Igel  were  all  directly  connected  with  the  German  Government  itself. 
There  is  now  hi  the  possession  of  the  United  States  Government 
a  check  made  out  to  Koenig  and  signed  by  von  Papen,  identified 
by  number  hi  a  secret  report  of  the  German  Bureau  of  Investiga- 
tion as  being  used  to  procure  $150  for  the  payment  of  a  bomb- 
maker,  who  was  to  plant  explosives  disguised  as  coal  hi  the  bunkers 
of  the  merchant  vessels  clearing  from  the  port  of  New  York. 
Boy-Ed,  Dr.  Bunz,  the  German  ex-minister  to  Mexico,  the  German 
consul  at  San  Francisco,  and  officials  of  the  Hamburg-American 
and  North  German  Lloyd  steamship  lines  evaded  customs  regula- 
tions and  coaled  and  victualed  German  raiders  at  sea.  Von  Papen 
and  von  Igel  supervised  the  making  of  the  incendiary  bombs  on 
the  Friedrich  der  Grosse,  then  hi  New  York  Harbor,  and  stowed 
them  away  on  outgoing  ships.  Von  Rintelen  financed  Labor's 
National  Peace  Council,  which  tried  to  corrupt  legislators  and 
labor  leaders. 

A  lesser  light  of  this  galaxy  was  Robert  Fay,  who  invented  an 
explosive  contrivance  which  he  tied  to  the  rudder  posts  of  vessels. 
According  to  his  confession  and  that  of  his  partner  hi  murder, 
the  money  came  from  the  German  secret  police. 


PLOTS  AND  PROPAGANDA  245 

Among  the  other  tools  of  the  German  plotters  were  David 
Lamar  and  Henry  Martin,  who,  in  the  pay  of  Captain  von  Rintelen, 
organized  and  managed  the  so-called  Labor's  National  Peace 
Council,  which  sought  to  bring  about  strikes,  an  embargo  on 
munitions,  and  a  boycott  of  the  banks  which  subscribed  to  the 
Anglo-French  loan.  A  check  for  $5,000  to  J.  F.  J.  Archibald  for 
propaganda  work,  and  a  receipt  from  Edwin  Emerson,  the  war 
correspondent,  for  $1,000  traveling  expenses  were  among  the  docu- 
ments found  in  Wolf  von  IgeFs  possession. 

Others  who  bore  English  names  were  persuaded  to  take 
leading  places  in  similar  organizations  which  concealed  their  origin 
and  real  purpose.  The  American  Embargo  Conference  arose  out 
of  the  ashes  of  Labor's  Peace  Council,  and  its  president  was 
American,  though  the  funds  were  not.  Others  tampered  with 
were  journalists  who  lent  themselves  to  the  German  propaganda 
and  who  went  so  far  as  to  serve  as  couriers  between  the  Teutonic 
embassies  in  Washington  and  the  governments  hi  Berlin  and 
Vienna.  A  check  of  $5,000  was  discovered  which  Count  von 
Bernstorff  had  sent  to  Marcus  Braun,  editor  of  Fair  Play.  And  a 
letter  was  discovered  which  George  Sylvester  Viereck,  editor  of  the 
Fatherland,  sent  to  Privy  Councilor  Albert,  the  German  agent, 
arranging  for  a  monthly  subsidy  of  $1,750,  to  be  delivered  to  him 
through  the  hands  of  intermediaries — women  whose  names  he 
abbreviates  "to  prevent  any  possible  inquiry."  There  is  a  record 
of  $3,000  paid  through  the  German  embassy  to  finance  the  lecture 
tour  of  Miss  Ray  Beveridge,  an  American  artist,  who  was  further 
to  be  supplied  with  German  war  pictures. 

The  German  propagandists  also  directed  their  efforts  to  poison- 
ing the  minds  of  the  people  through  the  circulation  of  lies  con- 
cerning affairs  in  France  and  at  home.  Here  are  some  of  the 
rumors  circulated  throughout  the  country  that  were  nailed  as 
falsehoods : 

It  was  said  that  the  national  registration  of  women  by  the 
Food  Administration  was  to  find  out  how  much  money  each  had 
in  the  bank,  how  much  of  this  was  owed,  and  everything  about 
each  registrant's  personal  affairs. 

That  the  millions  collected  from  the  public  for  the  Red  Cross 
went  into  the  pockets  of  thieves,  and  that  the  soldiers  and  sailors 
got  none  of  it,  nor  any  of  its  benefits. 


246  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

That  base  hospital  units  had  been  annihilated  while  en  route 

overseas. 

That  leading  members  of  other  hospital  units  had  been  executed 

as  spies  by  the  American  Government. 

That  canned  goods  put  up  by  the  housewives  were  to  be 
seized  by  the  government  and  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  army 

and  navy. 

That  soldiers  hi  training  were  being  instructed  to  put  out  the 

eyes  of  every  German  captured. 

That  all  of  the  "plums"  at  the  officers'  training  camps  fell 
to  Roman  Catholics.  The  plums  went  to  Protestants  when  the 
propagandist  talked  to  a  Catholic. 

That  the  registration  of  women  was  held  so  that  girls  would 
be  enticed  into  the  cities  where  white  slaves  were  made  of  them. 

That  the  battleship  Pennsylvania  had  been  destroyed  with 
everyone  on  board  by  a  German  submarine. 

That  more  than  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  American  soldiers 
in  France  had  been  infected  with  venereal  diseases. 

That  intoxicants  were  given  freely  to  American  soldiers  in 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Knights  of  Columbus  huts  hi  France. 

But  the  lies  and  the  plots  failed  to  make  any  impression  on 
the  morale  of  American  citizenry.  In  fact,  America  from  the 
moment  war  was  declared  against  Germany  until  the  time  an 
armistice  was  declared,  seemed  to  care  for  nothing  but  results. 
Charges  of  graft  made  with  bitter  invective  hi  Congress  created 
scarcely  more  than  a  ripple.  The  harder  the  pro-German  plotters 
worked  for  the  destruction  of  property  and  the  incitement  to  labor 
disturbances,  the  closer  became  the  protective  network  of  Ameri- 
canism against  these  anti-war  influences.  After  half  a  dozen  German 
lies  had  been  casually  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth  as  rumors, 
the  American  people  came  to  look  upon  other  mischievous  propa- 
ganda in  its  true  light.  Patriotic  newspapers  in  every  community 
exposed  the  false  reports  and  citizens  everywhere  were  on  their 
guard  against  the  misstatements.  It  was  noticeable  that  the 
propaganda  was  intensified  just  previous  to  and  during  the  several 
Liberty  Loan  campaigns.  Proof  that  the  American  spirit  rises 
superior  to  anti-American  influences  is  furnished  by  the  glorious 
records  of  these  Liberty  Loans.  Every  one  was  over-subscribed 
despite  the  severest  handicaps  confronted  by  any  nation. 


CHAPTER   XVI 
SINKING  OF  THE  LUSITANIA 

THE  United  States  was  brought  face  to  face  with  the  Great 
War  and  with  what  it  meant  in  ruthless  destruction  of  life 
when,  on  May  7,  1915,  the  crack  Cunard  Liner  Lusitania, 
bound  from  New  York  to  Liverpool,  with  1,959  persons 
aboard,  was  torpedoed  and  sunk  by  a  German  submarine  off 
Old  Head  of  Kinsale,  Southwestern  Ireland.  Two  torpedoes 
reached  then-  mark.  The  total  number  of  lives  lost  when  the  ship 
sunk  was  1,198.  Of  these  755  were  passengers  and  the  remainder 
were  members  of  the  crew.  Of  the  drowned  passengers,  124  were 
Americans  and  35  were  infants. 

"  Remember  the  Lusitania!"  later  became  a  battlecry  just  as 
"Remember  the  Maine!"  acted  as  a  spur  to  Americans  during 
the  war  with  Spain.  It  was  first  used  by  the  famous  "  Black 
Watch "  and  later  American  troops  shouted  it  as  they  v/ent 
into  battle. 

The  sinking  of  the  Lusitania,  with  its  attendant  destruction 
of  life,  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  through  the  neutral  peoples  of  the 
world.  General  opposition  to  the  use  of  submarines  in  attacking 
peaceful  shipping,  especially  passenger  vessels,  crystallized  as  the 
result  of  the  tragedy,  and  a  critical  diplomatic  controversy  between 
the  United  States  and  Germany  developed.  The  American  Govern- 
ment signified  its  determination  to  break  off  friendly  relations  with 
the  German  Empire  unless  the  ruthless  practices  of  the  submarine 
commanders  were  terminated.  Germany  temporarily  agreed  to 
discontinue  these  practices. 

Among  the  victims  of  the  Cunarder's  destruction  were  some 
of  the  best  known  personages  of  the  Western  Hemisphere.  Alfred 
Gwynne  Vanderbilt,  multimillionaire;  Charles  Frohman,  noted 
theatrical  manager;  Charles  Klein,  dramatist,  who  wrote  "The 
Lion  and  the  Mouse;"  Justus  Miles  Forman,  author,  and  Elbert 
Hubbard,  known  as  Fra  Elbertus,  widely  read  iconoclastic  writer, 
were  drowned. 

247 


248  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  ocean  off  the  pleasant  southern  coast  of  Ireland  was 
dotted  with  bodies  for  days  after  the  sinking  of  the  liner.  The 
remains  of  many  of  the  victims,  however,  never  were  recovered. 

When  the  Lusitania  prepared  to  sail  from  New  York  on  her 
last  trip,  fifty  anonymous  telegrams  addressed  to  prominent 
persons  aboard  the  vessel  warned  the  recipients  not  to  sail  with  the 
liner.  In  addition  to  these  warnings  was  an  advertisement 
inserted  in  the  leading  metropolitan  newspapers  by  the  German 
embassy,  advising  neutral  persons  that  British  steamships  were 
in  danger  of  destruction  in  the  war  zone  about  the  British  Isles. 
This  notice  appeared  the  day  the  Lusitania  sailed,  May  1st,  and 
was  placed  next  the  advertisement  of  the  Cunard  Line.  Following 
is  the  advertisement: 

NOTICE! 

Travelers  intending  to  embark  on  the  Atlantic  voyage  are  reminded 
that  a  state  of  war  exists  between  Germany  and  her  allies  and  Great 
Britain  and  her  allies;  that  the  zone  of  war  includes  the  waters  adjacent  to 
the  British  Isles;  that,  in  accordance  with  formal  notice  given  by  the 
Imperial  German  Government,  vessels  flying  the  flag  of  Great  Britain, 
or  of  any  of  her  allies,  are  liable  to  destruction  in  those  waters  and  that 
travelers  sailing  in  the  war  zone  on  ships  of  Great  Britain  or  her  allies 
do  so  at  their  own  risk. 

Imperial  German  Embassy, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  April  22,  1915. 

Little  or  no  attention  was  paid  to  the  warnings,  only  the 
usual  number  of  persons  canceling  their  reservations.  The  gen- 
eral agent  of  the  Cunard  Line  at  New  York  assured  the  passengers 
that  the  Lusitania's  voyage  would  be  attended  by  no  risk  what- 
ever, referring  to  the  liner's  speed  and  water-tight  compartments. 

As  the  great  Cunarder  drew  near  the  scene  of  her  disaster, 
traveling  at  moderate  speed  along  her  accustomed  route,  there 
was  news  of  freight  steamers  falling  victims  to  Germany's  undersea 
campaign.  It  was  not  definitely  established,  however,  whether 
the  liner  was  warned  of  danger. 

At  two  o'clock  on  the  fine  afternoon  of  May  7th,  some  ten  miles 
off  the  Old  Head  of  Kinsale,  the  Lusitania  was  sighted  by  a  sub- 
marine 1,000  yards  away.  A  second  later  the  track  of  a  tor- 
pedo, soon  followed  by  another,  was  seen  and  each  missile  crashed 
into  the  Lusitania's  hull  with  rending  detonations. 


SINKING  OF  THE  LUSITANIA  249 

Many  were  killed  or  injured  immediately  by  the  explosions. 
Before  the  liner's  headway  was  lost,  some  boats  were  lowered, 
and  capsized  as  a  result.  The  immediate  listing  of  the  steamship 
added  to  the  difficulties  of  rescue  and  increased  the  tragical  toll 
of  dead. 

Much  heroism  and  calmness  were  displayed  by  many  in  the 
few  minutes  the  liner  remained  afloat.  The  bearing  of  Frohman, 
Vanderbilt,  Hubbard  and  other  Americans  was  declared  to  have 
been  particularly  inspiring. 

Rescue  ships  and  naval  vessels  rushed  to  the  aid  of  the  sur- 
vivors from  all  nearby  ports  of  Ireland. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania  was  carefully 
planned  by  the  chiefs  of  the  German  admiralty.  They  expected, 
it  was  believed,  to  demoralize  British  shipping  and  strike  terror 
into  the  minds  of  the  British  people  by  showing  that  the  largest 
and  swiftest  of  liners  could  easily  be  destroyed  by  submarines. 

According  to  the  Paris  paper,  La  Guerre  Sotiale,  published 
by  Gustave  Herve,  the  submarine  responsible  was  the  U-21,  com- 
manded by  Lieutenant  Hersing.  Hersing  was  said  to  have  been 
decorated  for  his  deed.  The  U-21  afterwards  was  destroyed  and 
the  story  of  its  participation  in  the  sinking  of  the  great  Cunarder 
never  was  confirmed. 

Immediately  upon  the  news  of  the  Lusitania  disaster,  President 
Wilson  took  steps  to  hold  Germany  to  that  " strict  accountability" 
of  which  he  had  notified  Berlin  when  the  war-zone  operations  were 
begun  earlier  in  the  year.  His  first  communication,  protesting 
against  the  sinking  of  the  liner  in  the  name  of  humanity  and 
demanding  disavowal,  indemnity  and  assurance  that  the  crime 
would  not  be  repeated,  was  despatched  on  May  13th.  On  May 
30th  the  German  reply  argued  that  the  liner  carried  munitions  of 
war  and  probably  was  armed. 

The  following  official  German  version  of  the  incident  by  the 
German  Admiralty  Staff  over  the  signature  of  Admiral  Behncke 
was  given : 

"The  submarine  sighted  the  steamer,  which  showed  no  flag, 
May  7th,  at  2.20  o'clock,  Central  European  time,  afternoon,  on  the 
southeast  coast  of  Ireland,  in  fine,  clear  weather. 

"At  3.10  o'clock  one  torpedo  was  fired  at  the  Lusitania, 
which  hit  her  starboard  side  below  the  captain's  bridge.  The 


250  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

detonation  of  the  torpedo  was  followed  immediately  by  a  further 
explosion  of  extremely  strong  effect.  The  ship  quickly  listed  to 
starboard  and  began  to  sink. 

"The  second  explosion  must  be  traced  back  to  the  ignition 
of  quantities  of  ammunition  inside  the  ship." 

These  extenuations  were  all  rejected  by  the  United  States, 
and  the  next  note  prepared  by  President  Wilson  was  of  such  char- 
acter that  Secretary  of  State  Bryan  resigned.  This  second  com- 
munication was  sent  on  June  llth,  and  on  June  22d  another  was 
cabled.  September  1st  Germany  accepted  the  contentions  of  the 
United  States  in  regard  to  submarine  warfare  upon  peaceful 
shipping.  There  were  continued  negotiations  concerning  the 
specific  settlement  to  be  made  in  the  case  of  the  Lusitania. 

On  February  4th,  1916,  arrived  a  German  proposition  which, 
coupled  with  personal  parleys  carried  on  between  German  Ambassa- 
dor von  Bernstorff  and  United  States  Secretary  of  State  Lansing, 
seemed  in  a  fair  way  to  conclude  the  whole  controversy.  It  was 
announced  on  February  8th  that  the  two  nations  were  in  substantial 
accord  and  Germany  was  declared  to  have  admitted  the  sinking 
of  the  liner  was  wrong  and  unjustified  and  promised  that  repara- 
tion would  be  made. 

However,  a  week  later,  when  Germany  took  advantage  of 
tentative  American  proposals  concerning  the  disarming  of  merchant 
ships,  by  announcing  that  all  armed  hostile  merchantmen  would  be 
treated  as  warships  and  attacked  without  warning,  the  almost 
completed  agreement  was  overthrown.  The  renewed  negotiations 
were  continuing  when  the  torpedoing  of  the  cross-channel  passenger 
ship  Sussex,  without  warning,  on  March  24th,  impelled  the  United 
States  to  issue  a  virtual  ultimatum,  demanding  that  the  Germans 
immediately  cease  their  present  methods  of  naval  warfare  on  pain 
of  the  rupture  of  diplomatic  relations  with  the  most  powerful 
existing  neutral  nation. 

The  Lusitania,  previous  to  her  sinking,  had  figured  in  the 
war  news,  first  at  the  conflict,  when  it  was  feared  she  had  been 
captured  by  a  German  cruiser  while  she  was  dashing  across  the 
Atlantic  toward  Liverpool,  and  again  in  February  of  1915,  when 
she  flew  the  American  flag  as  a  ruse  to  deceive  submarines  while 
crossing  the  Irish  Sea.  This  latter  incident  called  forth  a  protest 
from  the  United  States. 


SINKING  OF  THE  LUSITANIA  251 

On  her  fatal  trip  the  cargo  of  the  Lusitania  was  worth  $735,000. 

As  a  great  transatlantic  liner,  the  Lusitania  was  a  product  of 
the  race  for  speed,  which  was  carried  on  for  years  among  larger 
steamship  companies,  particularly  of  England  and  Germany. 
When  the  Lusitania  was  launched,  it  was  the  wonder  of  the  mari- 
time world.  Its  mastery  of  the  sea,  from  the  standpoint  of  speed, 
was  undisputed. 

Progress  of  the  Lusitania  on  its  first  voyage  to  New  York, 
September  7,  1907,  was  watched  by  the  world.  The  vessel  made 
the  voyage  in  five  days  and  fifty-four  minutes,  at  that  time  a 
record.  Its  fastest  trip,  made  on  the  western  voyage,  was  four 
days  eleven  hours  forty-two  minutes.  This  record,  however, 
was  wrested  from  it  subsequently  by  the  Mauretania,  a  sister  ship, 
which  set  the  mark  of  four  days  ten  hours  forty-one  minutes,  that 
still  stands. 

Although  the  Lusitania  was  surpassed  in  size  by  several  other 
liners  built  subsequently,  it  never  lost  the  reputation  acquired 
at  the  outset  of  its  career.  Its  speed  and  luxurious  accommoda- 
tions made  it  a  favorite,  and  its  passenger  lists  bore  the  names  of 
many  of  the  most  prominent  Atlantic  wayfarers.  The  vessel  was 
pronounced  by  its  builders  to  be  as  nearly  unsinkable  as  any  ship 
could  be. 

Everything  about  the  Lusitania  was  of  colossal  dimensions. 
Her  rudder  weighed  sixty-five  tons.  She  carried  three  anchors  of 
ten  tons  each.  The  main  frames  and  beams,  placed  end  to  end, 
would  extend  thirty  miles.  The  Lusitania  was  785  feet  long, 
88  feet  beam,  and  60  feet  deep.  Her  gross  tonnage  was  32,500 
and  her  net  tonnage,  9,145. 

Charges  were  made  that  one  or  more  guardian  submarines 
deliberately  drove  off  ships  nearby  which  might  have  saved  hundreds 
of  lives  lost  when  the  Lusitania  went  down.  Captain  W.  F.  Wood, 
of  the  Leyland  Line  steamer  Etonian,  said  his  ship  was  prevented 
from  going  to  the  rescue  of  the  passengers  of  the  sinking  Lusitania 
by  a  warning  that  an  attack  might  be  made  upon  his  own  vessel. 

The  Etonian  left  Liverpool,  May  6th.  When  Captain  Wood 
was  forty-two  miles  from  Kinsale  he  received  a  wireless  call  from 
the  Lusitania  for  immediate  assistance. 

The  call  was  also  picked  up  by  the  steamers  City  of  Exeter 
and  Narragansett.  The  Narragansett,  Captain  Wood  said,  was 


252  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

made  a  target  for  submarine  attack,  a  torpedo  missing  her  by  a 
few  feet,  and  her  commander  then  warned  Captain  Wood  not  to 
attempt  to  reach  the  Lusitania. 

"It  was  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  May  7th,  that  we  received 
the  wireless  S  0  S,"  said  Captain  Wood.  "I  was  then  forty-two 
miles  distant  from  the  position  he  gave  me.  The  Narragansett 
and  the  City  of  Exeter  were  nearer  the  Lusitania  and  she  answered 
the  SOS. 

"At  five  o'clock  I  observed  the  City  of  Exeter  cross  our  bows 
and  she  signaled,  'Have  you  heard  anything  of  the  disaster?' 

"At  that  moment  I  saw  a  periscope  of  a  submarine  between 
the  Tonina  and  the  City  of  Exeter,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  directly 
ahead  of  us.  She  dived  as  soon  as  she  saw  us. 

"I  signaled  to  the  engine  room  for  every  available  inch  of 
speed.  Then  we  saw  the  submarine  come  up  astern  of  us.  I 
now  ordered  full  speed  ahead  and  we  left  the  submarine  behind. 
The  periscope  remained  hi  sight  about  twenty  minutes. 

"No  sooner  had  we  lost  sight  of  the  submarine  astern,  than 
another  appeared  on  the  starboard  bow.  This  one  was  directly 
ahead  and  on  the  surface,  not  submerged. 

"I  starboarded  hard  away  from  him,  he  swinging  as  we  did. 
About  eight  minutes  later  he  submerged.  I  continued  at  top 
speed  for  four  hours  and  saw  no  more  of  the  submarines.  It  was 
the  ship's  speed  that  saved  her,  that's  all. 

"The  Narragansett,  as  soon  as  she  heard  the  S  0  S  call,  went 
to  the  assistance  of  the  Lusitania.  One  of  the  submarines  dis- 
charged a  torpedo  at  her  and  missed  her  by  not  more  than  eight 
feet.  The  Narragansett  then  warned  us  not  to  attempt  to  go  to 
the  rescue,  and  I  got  her  wireless  call  while  I  was  dodging  the  two 
submarines.  You  can  see  that  three  ships  would  have  gone  to  the 
assistance  of  the  Lusitania  had  they  not  been  attacked  by  the  two 
submarines." 

The  German  Government  defended  the  brutal  destruction  of 
non-combatants  by  the  false  assertions  that  the  Lusitania  was 
an  armed  vessel  and  that  it  was  carrying  a  great  store  of  munitions. 
Both  of  these  accusations  were  proved  to  be  mere  fabrications. 
The  Lusitania  was  absolutely  unarmed  and  the  nearest  approach  to 
munitions  was  a  consignment  of  1,250  empty  shell  cases  and  4,200 
cases  of  cartridges  for  small  arms. 


SINKING   OF  THE  LUSITANIA  253 

Intense  indignation  swept  over  the  neutral  world,  the  tide 
rising  highest  in  America.  It  well  may  be  said  that  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Lusitania  was  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in  driving 
America  into  the  war  with  Germany. 

Concerning  the  charge  that  the  Lusitania  carried  munitions, 
Dudley  Field  Malone,  Collector  of  the  port  of  New  York,  testified 
that  he  made  personal  and  close  inspection  of  the  ship's  cargo  and 
saw  that  it  carried  no  guns  and  that  there  were  no  munitions  in 
its  cargo. 

His  statement  follows: 

"This  report  is  not  correct.  The  Lusitania  was  inspected 
before  sailing,  as  is  customary.  No  guns  were  found,  mounted 
or  unmounted,  and  the  vessel  sailed  without  any  armament.  No 
merchant  ship  would  be  allowed  to  arm  in  this  port  and  leave  the 
harbor." 

Captain  W.  T.  Turner,  of  the  Lusitania,  testifying  before  the 
coroner's  inquest  at  Kinsale,  Ireland,  was  interrogated  as  follows: 

"You  were  aware  threats  had  been  made  that  the  ship  would 
be  torpedoed?" 

"We  were,"  the  Captain  replied. 

"Was  she  armed?" 

"No,  sir." 

"What  precautions  did  you  take?" 

"We  had  all  the  boats  swung  when  we  came  within  the  danger 
zone,  between  the  passing  of  Fastnet  and  the  time  of  the  accident." 

The  coroner  asked  him  whether  he  had  received  a  message 
concerning  the  sinking  of  a  ship  off  Kinsale  by  a  submarine.  Cap- 
tain Turner  replied  that  he  had  not. 

"Did  you  receive  any  special  instructions  as  to  the  voyage?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Are  you  at  liberty  to  tell  us  what  they  were?" 

"No,  sir." 

"Did  you  carry  them  out?" 

"Yes,  to  the  best  of  my  ability." 

"Tell  us  hi  your  own  words  what  happened  after  passing 
Fastnet." 

"The  weather  was  clear,"  Captain  Turner  answered.  "We 
were  going  at  a  speed  of  eighteen  knots.  I  was  on  the  port  side 
and  heard  Second  Officer  Hefford  call  out: 


254  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  .WAR 

"  'Here's  a  torpedo!' 

"I  ran  to  the  other  side  and  saw  clearly  the  wake  of  a  torpedo. 
Smoke  and  steam  came  up  between  the  last  two  funnels.  There 
was  a  slight  shock.  Immediately  after  the  first  explosion  there 
was  another  report,  but  that  may  possibly  have  been  internal. 

"I  at  once  gave  the  order  to  lower  the  boats  down  to  the 
rails,  and  I  directed  that  women  and  children  should  get  into  them. 
I  also  had  all  the  bulkheads  closed. 

"Between  the  tune  of  passing  Fastnet,  about  11  o'clock,  and 
of  the  torpedoing  I  saw  no  sign  whatever  of  any  submarines.  There 
was  some  haze  along  the  Irish  coast,  and  when  we  were  near  Fastnet 
I  slowed  down  to  fifteen  knots.  I  was  in  wireless  communication 
with  shore  all  the  way  across." 

Captain  Turner  was  asked  whether  he  had  received  any 
message  in  regard  to  the  presence  of  submarines  off  the  Irish  coast. 
He  replied  hi  the  affirmative.  Questioned  regarding  the  nature  of 
the  message,  he  replied: 

"I  respectfully  refer  you  to  the  admiralty  for  an  answer." 

"I  also  gave  orders  to  stop  the  ship,"  Captain  Turner  con- 
tinued, "but  we  could  not  stop.  We  found  that  the  engines  were 
out  of  commission.  It  was  not  safe  to  lower  boats  until  the  speed 
was  off  the  vessel.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  was  a  perceptible 
headway  on  her  up  to  the  time  she  went  down. 

"When  she  was  struck  she  listed  to  starboard.  I  stood  on 
the  bridge  when  she  sank,  and  the  Lusitania  went  down  under  me. 
She  floated  about  eighteen  minutes  after  the  torpedo  struck  her. 
My  watch  stopped  at  2.36.  I  was  picked  up  from  among  the 
wreckage  and  afterward  was  brought  aboard  a  trawler. 

"No  warship  was  convoying  us.  I  saw  no  warship,  and  none 
was  reported  to  me  as  having  been  seen.  At  the  tune  I  was  picked 
up  I  noticed  bodies  floating  on  the  surface,  but  saw  no  living 
persons." 

"Eighteen  knots  was  not  the  normal  speed  of  the  Lusitania, 
was  it?" 

"At  ordinary  tunes,"  answered  Captain  Turner,  "she  could 
make  twenty-five  knots,  but  in  war  tunes  her  speed  was  reduced  to 
twenty-one  knots.  My  reason  for  going  eighteen  knots  was  that  I 
wanted  to  arrive  at  Liverpool  bar  without  stopping,  and  within  two 
or  three  hours  of  high  water." 


SINKING  OF  THE  LUSITANIA  255 

"Was  there  a  lookout  kept  for  submarines,  having  regard  to 
previous  warnings?" 

"Yes,  we  had  double  lookouts." 

"Were  you  going  a  zigzag  course  at  the  moment  the  torpedo- 
ing took  place?" 

"No.     It  was  bright  weather,  and  land  was  clearly  visible." 

"Was  it  possible  for  a  submarine  to  approach  without  being 
seen?" 

' '  Oh,  yes ;   quite  possible. ' ' 

"Something  has  been  said  regarding  the  impossibility  of 
launching  the  boats  on  the  port  side?" 

"Yes,"  said  Captain  Turner,  "owing  to  the  listing  of  the 
ship." 

"How  many  boats  were  launched  safely?" 

"I  cannot  say." 

"Were  any  launched  safely?" 

"Yes,  and  one  or  two  on  the  port  side." 

"Were  your  orders  promptly  carried  out?" 

"Yes." 

"Was  there  any  panic  on  board?" 

"No,  there  was  no  panic  at  all.    It  was  almost  calm." 

"How  many  persons  were  on  board?" 

"There  were  1,500  passengers  and  about  600  crew." 

By  the  Foreman  of  the  Jury — "In  the  face  of  the  warnings 
at  New  York  that  the  Lusitania  would  be  torpedoed,  did  you  make 
any  application  to  the  admiralty  for  an  escort?" 

"No,  I  left  that  to  them.  It  is  their  business,  not  mine. 
I  simply  had  to  carry  out  my  orders  to  go,  and  I  would  do  it  again." 

Captain  Turner  uttered  the  last  words  of  this  reply  with 
great  emphasis. 

By  the  Coroner — "I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so,  Captain." 

By  the  Juryman — "Did  you  get  a  wireless  to  steer  your  vessel 
hi  a  northern  direction?" 

"No,"  replied  Captain  Turner. 

"Was  the  course  of  the  vessel  altered  after  the  torpedoes 
struck  her?" 

"I  headed  straight  for  land,  but  it  was  useless.  Previous 
to  this  the  watertight  bulkheads  were  closed.  I  suppose  the  explo- 


256  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD  WAR 

sion  forced  them  open.  I  don't  know  the  exact  extent  to  which 
the  Lusitania  was  damaged." 

"There  must  have  been  serious  damage  done  to  the  water- 
tight bulkheads?" 

"There  certainly  was,  without  doubt." 

"Were  the  passengers  supplied  with  lifebelts?" 

"Yes." 

"Were  any  special  orders  given  that  morning  that  lifebelts 
be  put  on?" 

"No." 

"Was  any  warning  given  before  you  were  torpedoed?" 

"None  whatever.    It  was  suddenly  done  and  finished." 

"If  there  had  been  a  patrol  boat  about,  might  it  have  been  of 
assistance?" 

"It  might,  but  it  is  one  of  those  things  one  never  knows." 

With  regard  to  the  threats  against  his  ship,  Captain  Turner 
said  he  saw  nothing  except  what  appeared  in  the  New  York  papers 
the  day  before  the  Lusitania  sailed.  He  had  never  heard  the 
passengers  talking  about  the  threats,  he  said. 

"Was  a  warning  given  to  the  lower  decks  after  the  ship  had 
been  struck?"  Captain  Turner  was  asked. 

"All  the  passengers  must  have  heard  the  explosion,"  Captain 
Turner  replied. 

Captain  Turner,  in  answer  to  another  question,  said  he 
received  no  report  from  the  lookout  before  the  torpedo  struck  the 
Lusitania. 

Ship's  Bugler  Livennore  testified  that  the  watertight  com- 
partments were  closed,  but  that  the  explosion  and  the  force  of 
the  water  must  have  burst  them  open.  He  said  that  all  the  officers 
were  at  their  posts  and  that  earlier  arrivals  of  the  rescue  craft 
would  not  have  saved  the  situation. 

After  physicians  had  testified  that  the  victims  had  met  death 
through  prolonged  immersion  and  exhaustion  the  coroner  summed 
up  the  case. 

He  said  that  the  first  torpedo  fired  by  the  German  submarine 

did  serious  damage  to  the  Lusitania,  but  that,  not  satisfied  with 

this,  the  Germans  had  discharged  another  torpedo.     The  second 

orpedo,  he  said,  must  have  been  more  deadly,  because  it  went 

right  through  the  ship,  hastening  the  work  of  destruction. 


SINKING  OF  THE  LUSITANIA  257 

The  characteristic  courage  of  the  Irish  and  British  people 
was  manifested  at  the  time  of  this  terrible  disaster,  the  coroner 
continued,  and  there  was  no  panic.  He  charged  that  the  respon- 
sibility "lay  on  the  German  Government  and  the  whole  people 
of  Germany,  who  collaborated  in  the  terrible  crime." 

"I  propose  to  ask  the  jury,"  he  continued,  "to  return  the 
only  verdict  possible  for  a  self-respecting  jury,  that  the  men  in 
charge  of  the  German  submarine  were  guilty  of  wilful  murder." 

The  jury  then  retired  and  after  due  deliberation  prepared  this 
verdict: 

We  find  that  the  deceased  met  death  from  prolonged  immersion  and 
exhaustion  in  the  sea  eight  miles  south-southeast  of  Old  Head  of  Kinsale, 
Friday,  May  7,  1915,  owing  to  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania  by  torpedoes 
fired  by  a  German  submarine. 

We  find  that  the  appalling  crime  was  committed  contrary  to  inter- 
national law  and  the  conventions  of  all  civilized  nations. 

We  also  charge  the  officers  of  said  submarine  and  the  Emperor  and 
the  Government  of  Germany,  under  whose  orders  they  acted,  with  the 
crime  of  wholesale  murder  before  the  tribunal  of  the  civilized  world. 

We  desire  to  express  sincere  condolences  and  sympathy  with  the 
relatives  of  the  deceased,  the  Cunard  Company,  and  the  United  States, 
many  of  whose  citizens  perished  in  this  murderous  attack  on  an  unarmed 
liner. 

President  Wilson's  note  to  Germany,  written  consequent  on 
the  torpedoing  of  the  Lusitania,  was  dated  six  days  later,  showing 
that  time  for  careful  deliberation  was  duly  taken.  The  President's 
Secretary,  Joseph  P.  Tumulty,  on  May  8th,  the  day  following 
the  tragedy,  made  this  statement: 

Of  course  the  President  feels  the  distress  and  the  gravity  of  the 
situation  to  the  utmost,  and  is  considering  very  earnestly  but  very 
calmly,  the  right  course  of  action  to  pursue.  He  knows  that  the  people 
of  the  country  wish  and  expect  him  to  act  with  deliberation  as  well  as 
with  firmness. 

Although  signed  by  Mr.  Bryan,  as  Secretary  of  State,  the  note 
was  written  by  the  President  in  shorthand — a  favorite  method  of 
Mr.  Wilson  hi  making  memoranda — and  transcribed  by  him  on  his 
own  typewriter.  The  document  was  presented  to  the  members 
of  the  President's  Cabinet,  a  draft  of  it  was  sent  to  Counselor 
Lansing  of  the  State  Department,  and  after  a  few  minor  changes, 
it  was  transmitted  by  cable  to  Ambassador  Gerard  in  Berlin. 


258  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
WASHINGTON,  MAY  13,  1915. 

The  Secretary  of  State  to  the  American  Ambassador  at  Berlin: 

Please  call  on  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  after  reading  to 
him  this  communication  leave  with  him  a  copy. 

In  view  of  recent  acts  of  the  German  authorities  in  violation  of 
American  rights  on  the  high  seas,  which  culminated  in  the  torpedoing 
and  sinking  of  the  British  steamship  Lusitania  on  May  7,  1915,  by  which 
over  100  American  citizens  lost  their  lives,  it  is  clearly  wise  and  desirable 
that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  and  the  Imperial  German 
Government  should  come  to  a  clear  and  full  understanding  as  to  the 
grave  situation  which  has  resulted. 

The  sinking  of  the  British  passenger  steamer  Falaba  by  a  German 
submarine  on  March  28th,  through  which  Leon  C.  Thrasher,  an  American 
citizen,  was  drowned;  the  attack  on  April  28th,  on  the  American  vessel 
Gushing  by  a  German  aeroplane;  the  torpedoing  on  May  1st  of  the  Ameri- 
can vessel  Gulflight  by  a  German  submarine,  as  a  result  of  which  two  or 
more  American  citizens  met  their  death;  and,  finally,  the  torpedoing  and 
sinking  of  the  steamship  Lusitania,  constitute  a  series  of  events  which 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  has  observed  with  growing  con- 
cern, distress,  and  amazement. 

Recalling  the  humane  and  enlightened  attitude  hitherto  assumed  by 
the  Imperial  German  Government  in  matters  of  international  right, 
and  particularly  with  regard  to  the  freedom  of  the  seas;  having  learned 
to  recognize  the  German  views  and  the  German  influence  in  the  field  of 
international  obligation  as  always  engaged  upon  the  side  of  justice  and 
humanity;  and  having  understood  the  instructions  of  the  Imperial 
German  Government  to  its  naval  commanders  to  be  upon  the  same  plane 
of  humane  action  prescribed  by  the  naval  codes  of  the  other  nations,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  was  loath  to  believe — it  cannot  now 
bring  itself  to  believe — that  these  acts,  so  absolutely  contrary  to  the 
rules,  the  practices,  and  the  spirit  of  modern  warfare,  could  have  the 
countenance,  or  sanction  of  that  great  government.  It  feels  it  to  be  its 
duty,  therefore,  to  address  the  Imperial  German  Government  concerning 
them  with  the  utmost  frankness  and  in  the  earnest  hope  that  it  is  not 
mistaken  in  expecting  action  on  the  part  of  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment, which  will  correct  the  unfortunate  impressions  which  have  been 
created,  and  vindicate  once  more  the  position  of  that  government  with 
regard  to  the  sacred  freedom  of  the  seas. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  been  apprised  that  the 
Imperial  German  Government  considered  themselves  to  be  obliged  by 
the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  the  present  war  and  the  measure 
adopted  by  their  adversaries  in  seeking  to  cut  Germany  off  from  all 
commerce,  to  adopt  methods  of  retaliation  which  go  much  beyond  the 
ordinary  methods  of  warfare  at  sea,  in  the  proclamation  of  a  war  zone 


SUBMARINE  HUNTING 

A  small  naval  dirigible  used  for  scouting  by  the  British  Navy.  Under  the  cigar- 
ehaped  balloon  is  swung  an  airplane  chassis  equipped  with  powerful  motors  and 
steering  apparatus,  together  with  a  light  gun. 


SINKING  OF  THE  LUSITANIA  261 

from  which  they  have  warned  neutral  ships  to  keep  away.  This  govern- 
ment has  already  taken  occasion  to  inform  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment that  it  cannot  admit  the  adoption  of  such  measures  or  such  a  warn- 
ing of  danger  to  operate  as  in  any  degree  an  abbreviation  of  the  rights  of 
American  shipmasters  or  of  American  citizens  bound  on  lawful  errands 
as  passengers  on  merchant  ships  of  belligerent  nationality,  and  that  it 
must  hold  the  Imperial  German  Government  to  a  strict  accountability 
for  any  infringement  of  those  rights,  intentional  or  incidental.  It  does 
not  understand  the  Imperial  German  Government  to  question  these 
rights.  It  assumes,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  Imperial  Government 
accept,  as  of  course,  the  rule  that  the  lives  of  noncombatants,  whether 
they  be  of  neutral  citizenship  or  citizens  of  one  of  the  nations  at  war, 
cannot  lawfully  or  rightfully  be  put  in  jeopardy  by  the  capture  or  destruc- 
tion of  an  unarmed  merchantman,  and  recognize  also,  as  all  other  nations 
do,  the  obligation  to  take  the  usual  precaution  of  visit  and  search  to 
ascertain  whether  a  suspected  merchantman  is  in  fact  of  belligerent 
nationality  or  is  in  fact  carrying  contraband  of  war  under  a  neutral  flag. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States,  therefore,  desires  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  Imperial  German  Government  with  the  utmost  earnest- 
ness to  the  fact  that  the  objection  to  their  present  method  of  attack  against 
the  trade  of  their  enemies  lies  in  the  practical  impossibility  of  employing 
submarines  in  the  destruction  of  commerce  without  disregarding  those 
rules  of  fairness,  reason,  justice,  and  humanity  which  all  modern  opinion 
regards  as  imperative.  It  is  practically  impossible  for  the  officers  of  a 
submarine  to  visit  a  merchantman  at  sea  and  examine  her  papers  and 
cargo.  It  is  practically  impossible  for  them  to  make  a  prize  of  her;  and, 
if  they  cannot  put  a  prize  crew  on  board  of  her,  they  cannot  sink  her 
without  leaving  her  crew  and  all  on  board  of  her  to  the  mercy  of  the  sea 
in  her  small  boats.  These  facts,  it  is  understood,  the  Imperial  German 
Government  frankly  admit.  We  are  informed  that  in  the  instances  of 
which  we  have  spoken  time  enough  for  even  that  poor  measure  of  safety 
was  not  given,  and  in  at  least  two  of  the  cases  cited  not  so  much  as  a 
warning  was  received.  Manifestly,  submarines  cannot  be  used  against 
merchantmen,  as  the  last  few  weeks  have  shown,  without  an  inevitable 
violation  of  many  sacred  principles  of  justice  and  humanity. 

American  citizens  act  within  their  indisputable  rights  in  taking 
their  ships  and  in  traveling  wherever  their  legitimate  business  calls  them 
upon  the  high  seas,  and  exercise  those  rights  in  what  should  be  the  well- 
justified  confidence  that  their  lives  will  not  be  endangered  by  acts  done 
in  clear  violation  of  universally  acknowledged  international  obligations, 
and  certainly  in  the  confidence  that  their  own  government  will  sustain 
them  in  the  exercise  of  their  rights. 

There  was  recently  published  in  the  newspapers  of  the  United  States, 
I  regret  to  inform  the  Imperial  German  Government,  a  formal  warning, 
purporting  to  come  from  the  Imperial  German  Embassy  at  Washington, 
addressed  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  stating,  in  effect,  that 


262  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

any  citizen  of  the  United  States  who  exercised  his  right  of  free  travel  upon 
the  seas  would  do  so  at  his  peril  if  his  journey  should  take  him  within  the 
zone  of  waters  within  which  the  Imperial  German  Navy  was  using  sub- 
marines against  the  commerce  of  Great  Britain  and  France,  notwithstand- 
ing the  respectful  but  very  earnest  protest  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States.  I  do  not  refer  to  this  for  the  purpose  of  calling  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Imperial  German  Government  at  this  time  to  the  surprising 
irregularity  of  a  communication  from  the  Imperial  German  Embassy 
at  Washington  addressed  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  through 
the  newspapers,  but  only  for  the  purpose  of  pointing  out  that  no  warning 
that  an  unlawful  and  inhumane  act  will  be  committed  can  possibly  be 
accepted  as  an  excuse  or  palliation  for  that  act  or  as  an  abatement  of  the 
responsibility  for  its  commission. 

Long  acquainted  as  this  government  has  been  with  the  character 
of  the  Imperial  Government,  and  with  the  high  principles  of  equity  by 
which  they  have  in  the  past  been  actuated  and  guided,  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  cannot  believe  that  the  commanders  of  the  vessels 
which  committed  these  acts  of  lawlessness  did  so  except  under  a  mis- 
apprehension of  the  orders  issued  by  the  Imperial  German  naval  authori- 
ties. It  takes  for  granted  that,  at  least  within  the  practical  possibilities 
of  every  such  case,  the  commanders  even  of  submarines  were  expected 
to  do  nothing  that  would  involve  the  lives  of  noncombatants  or  the 
safety  of  neutral  ships,  even  at  the  cost  of  failing  of  their  object  of  capture 
or  destruction.  It  confidently  expects,  therefore,  that  the  Imperial  Ger- 
man Government  will  disavow  the  acts  of  which  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  complains;  that  they  will  make  reparation  so  far  as  repara- 
tion is  possible  for  injuries  which  are  without  measure,  and  that  they  will 
take  immediate  steps  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  anything  so  obviously 
subversive  of  the  principles  of  warfare  for  which  the  Imperial  German 
Government  have  in  the  past  so  wisely  and  so  firmly  contended. 

The  government  and  people  of  the  United  States  look  to  the  Imperial 
German  Government  for  just,  prompt,  and  enlightened  action  in  this 
vital  matter  with  the  greater  confidence,  because  the  United  States  and 
Germany  are  bound  together  not  only  by  ties  of  friendship,  but  also  by 
the  explicit  stipulations  of  the  Treaty  of  1828,  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Kingdom  of  Prussia. 

Expressions  of  regret  and  offers  of  reparation  in  case  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  neutral  ships  sunk  by  mistake,  while  they  may  satisfy  inter- 
national obligations,  if  no  loss  of  life  results,  cannot  justify  or  excuse  a 
practice  the  natural  and  necessary  effect  of  which  is  to  subject  neutral 
nations  and  neutral  persons  to  new  and  immeasurable  risks. 

+uThreT  ^P61™1  German  Government  will  not  expect  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  to  omit  any  word  or  any  act  necessary  to  the  per- 
>rmance  of  its  sacred  duty  of  maintaining  the  rights  of  the  United  States 
:s  citizens  and  of  safeguarding  their  free  exercise  and  enjoyment. 

BRYAN. 


263 

Ex-President  Roosevelt,  after  learning  details  of  the  sinking 
of  the  Lusitania,  made  these  statements : 

"This  represents  not  merely  piracy,  but  piracy  on  a  vaster 
scale  of  murder  than  old-time  pirate  ever  practiced.  This  is  the 
warfare  which  destroyed  Louvain  and  Dinant  and  hundreds  of 
men,  women  and  children  hi  Belgium.  It  is  a  warfare  against 
innocent  men,  women,  and  children  traveling  on  the  ocean,  and 
our  own  fellowcountrymen  and  countrywomen,  who  were  among 
the  sufferers. 

"It  seems  inconceivable  that  we  can  refrain  from  taking 
action  hi  this  matter,  for  we  owe  it  not  only  to  humanity,  but  to 
our  own  national  self-respect." 

Former  President  Taf t  made  this  statement : 

"I  do  not  wish  to  embarrass  the  President  of  the  Administra- 
tion by  a  discussion  of  the  subject  at  this  stage  of  the  information, 
except  to  express  confidence  that  the  President  will  follow  a  wise 
and  patriotic  course.  We  must  bear  in  mind  that  if  we  have  a  war 
it  is  the  people,  the  men  and  women,  fathers  and  mothers,  brothers 
and  sisters,  who  must  pay  with  lives  and  money  the  cost  of  it, 
and  therefore  they  should  not  be  hurried  into  the  sacrifices  until 
it  is  made  clear  that  they  wish  it  and  know  what  they  are  doing 
when  they  wish  it. 

"I  agree  that  the  inhumanity  of  the  circumstances  in  the 
case  now  presses  us  on,  but  in  the  heat  of  even  just  indignation 
is  this  the  best  tune  to  act,  when  action  involves  such  momentous 
consequences  and  means  untold  loss  of  life  and  treasure?  There 
are  things  worse  than  war,  but  delay,  due  to  calm  deliberation, 
cannot  change  the  situation  or  minimize  the  effect  of  what  we 
finally  conclude  to  do. 

"With  the  present  condition  of  the  war  in  Europe,  our  action, 
if  it  is  to  be  extreme,  will  not  lose  efficiency  by  giving  time  to  the 
people,  whose  war  it  will  be,  to  know  what  they  are  facing. 

"A  demand  for  war  that  cannot  survive  the  passion  of  the 
first  days  of  public  indignation  and  will  not  endure  the  test  of  delay 
and  deliberation  by  all  the  people  is  not  one  that  should  be  yielded 
to." 

President  Wilson  was  criticised  later  by  many  persons  for 
not  insisting  upon  a  declaration  of  war  immediately  after  the  sink- 
ing of  the  Lusitania.  Undoubtedly  the  advice  of  former  President 


264  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Taft  and  of  others  high  in  statesmanship,  prevailed  with  the  Presi- 
dent. This  in  substance  was  that  America  should  prepare  resolutely 
and  thoroughly,  giving  Germany  in  the  meantime  no  excuse  for 
charges  that  America's  entrance  into  the  conflict  was  for  aggression 
or  for  selfish  purposes. 

It  was  seen  even  as  early  as  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania  that 
Germany's  only  hope  for  final  success  lay  in  the  submarine.  It 
was  reasoned  that  unrestricted  submarine  warfare  against  the 
shipping  of  the  world,  so  far  as  tended  toward  the  provisioning  and 
munitioning  of  the  Allies,  would  be  the  inevitable  outcome.  It  was 
further  seen  that  when  that  declaration  would  be  made  by  Germany, 
America's  decision  for  war  must  be  made.  The  President  and  his 
Cabinet  thereupon  made  all  their  plans  looking  toward  that 
eventuality. 

The  resignation  of  Mr.  Bryan  from  the  Cabinet  was  followed 
by  the  appointment  of  Robert  Lansing  as  Secretary  of  State. 
It  was  recognized  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  that  President 
Wilson  in  all  essential  matters  affecting  the  war  was  active  in  the 
preparation  of  all  state  papers  and  hi  the  direction  of  that  depart- 
ment. Another  Cabinet  vacancy  was  created  when  Lindley  M. 
Garrison,  of  New  Jersey,  resigned  the  portfolio  of  Secretary  of  War 
because  of  a  clash  upon  his  militant  views  for  preparedness. 
Newton  D.  Baker,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  a  close  friend  and  suppor- 
ter of  President  Wilson,  was  appointed  hi  his  stead. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

NEUVE  CHAPELLE  AND  WAR  IN  BLOOD-SOAKED  TRENCHES 

A  FTER  the  immortal  stand  of  Joffre  at  the  first  battle  of  the 
/  \  Marne  and  the  sudden  savage  thrust  at  the  German  center 
/  \  which  sent  von  Kluck  and  his  men  reeling  back  in  retreat 
to  the  prepared  defenses  along  the  line  of  the  Aisne,  the 
war  hi  the  western  theater  resolved  itself  into  a  play  for  position 
from  deep  intrenchments.  Occasionally  would  come  a  sudden  big 
push  by  one  side  or  the  other  in  which  artillery  was  massed  until 
hub  touched  hub  and  infantry  swept  to  glory  and  death  in  waves 
of  gray,  or  blue  or  khaki  as  the  case  might  be.  But  these  tremendous 
efforts  and  consequent  slaughters  did  not  change  the  long  battle 
line  from  the  Alps  to  the  North  Sea  materially.  Here  and  there  a 
bulge  would  be  made  by  the  terrific  pressure  of  men  and  material 
in  some  great  assault  like  that  first  push  of  the  British  at  Neuve 
Chapelle,  like  the  German  attack  at  Verdun  or  like  the  tremendous 
efforts  by  both  sides  on  that  bloodiest  of  all  battle-fields,  the  Somme. 
Neuve  Chapelle  deserves  particular  mention  as  the  test  in 
which  the  British  soldiers  demonstrated  their  might  in  equal  con- 
test against  the  enemy.  There  had  been  a  disposition  in  England 
as  elsewhere  up  to  that  time  to  rate  the  Germans  as  supermen, 
to  exalt  the  potency  of  the  scientific  equipment  with  which  the 
German  army  had  taken  the  field.  When  the  battle  of  Neuve 
Chapelle  had  been  fought,  although  its  losses  were  heavy,  there 
was  no  longer  any  doubt  hi  the  British  nation  that  victory  was 
only  a  question  of  tune. 

The  action  came  as  a  pendant  to  the  attack  by  General  de 
de  Langle  de  Gary's  French  army  during  February,  1915,  at  Perthes, 
that  had  been  a  steady  relentless  pressure  by  artillery  and  infantry 
upon  a  strong  German  position.  To  meet  it  heavy  reinforcements 
had  been  shifted  by  the  Germans  from  the  trenches  between  La 
Bassee  and  Lille.  The  earthworks  at  Neuve  Chapelle  had  been 
particularly  depleted  and  only  a  comparatively  small  body  of 
Saxons  and  Bavarians  defended  them.  Opposite  this  body  was 

265 


266  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  first  British  army.  The  German  intrenchments  at  Neuve 
Chapelle  surrounded  and  defended  the  highlands  upon  which  were 
placed  the  German  batteries  and  in  their  turn  defended  the  road 
towards  Lille,  Roubaix  and  Turcoing. 

The  task  assigned  to  Sir  John  French  was  to  make  an  assault 
with  only  forty-eight  thousand  men  on  a  comparatively  narrow 
front.  There  was  only  one  practicable  method  for  effective  prep- 
aration, and  this  was  chosen  by  the  British  general.  An  artillery 
concentration  absolutely  unprecedented  up  to  that  time  was 
employed  by  him.  Field  pieces  firing  at  point-blank  range  were 
used  to  cut  the  barbed  wire  entanglements  defending  the  enemy 
intrenchments,  while  howitzers  and  bombing  airplanes  were  used 
to  drop  high  explosives  into  the  defenseless  earthworks. 

Sir  Douglas  Haig,  later  to  become  the  commander-in -chief 
of  the  British  forces,  was  in  command  of  the  first  army.  Sir 
Horace  Smith-Dorrien  commanded  the  second  army.  It  was  the 
first  army  that  bore  the  brunt  of  the  attack. 

No  engagement  during  the  years  on  the  western  front  was 
more  sudden  and  surprising  hi  its  onset  than  that  drive  of  the 
British  against  Neuve  Chapelle.  At  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  Wednesday,  March  10,  1915,  the  British  artillery  was  lazily 
engaged  in  lobbing  over  a  desultory  shell  fire  upon  the  German 
trenches.  It  was  the  usual  breakfast  appetizer,  and  nobody  on 
the  German  side  took  any  unusual  notice  of  it.  Really,  however, 
the  shelling  was  scientific  "bracketing"  of  the  enemy's  important 
position.  The  gunners  were  making  sure  of  their  ranges. 

At  7.30  range  finding  ended,  and  with  a  roar  that  shook  the 
earth  the  most  destructive  and  withering  artillery  action  of  the 
war  up  to  that  time  was  on.  Field  pieces  sending  their  shells 
hurtling  only  a  few  feet  above  the  earth  tore  the  wire  emplacements 
of  the  enemy  to  pieces  and  made  kindling  wood  of  the  supports. 
Howitzers  sent  high  explosive  shells,  containing  lyddite,  of  15-inch, 
9.2-inch  and  6-inch  caliber  into  the  doomed  trenches  and  later 
into  the  ruined  village.  It  was  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  one- 
half  hour  after  the  beginning  of  the  artillery  action,  that  the  village 
was  bombarded.  During  this  time  British  soldiers  were  enabled  to 
walk  about  hi  No  Man's  Land  behind  the  curtain  of  fire  with 
absolute  immunity.  No  German  rifleman  or  machine  gunner  left 
cover.  The  scene  on  the  German  side  of  the  line  was  like  that 


NEUVE  CHAPELLE  AND  WAR 


267 


268  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

upon  the  blasted  surface  of  the  moon,  pock-marked  with  shell 
holes,  and  with  no  trace  of  human  life  to  be  seen  above  ground. 

An  eye  witness  describing  the  scene  said: 

"The  dawn,  which  broke  reluctantly  through  a  veil  of  clouds 
on  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  March  10,  1915,  seemed  as  any 
other  to  the  Germans  behind  the  white  and  blue  sandbags  hi  their 
long  line  of  trenches  curving  in  a  hemicycle  about  the  battered 
village  of  Neuve  Chapelle.  For  five  months  they  had  remained 
undisputed  masters  of  the  positions  they  had  here  wrested  from  the 
British  in  October.  Ensconced  in  their  comfortably-arranged 
trenches  with  but  a  thin  outpost  in  then*  fire  trenches,  they  had 
watched  day  succeed  day  and  night  succeed  night  without  the  least 
variation  from  the  monotony  of  trench  warfare,  the  intermittent 
bark  of  the  machine  guns — rat-tat-tat-tat-tat — and  the  perpetual 
rattle  of  rifle  fire,  with  here  and  there  a  bomb,  and  now  and  then 
an  exploded  mine. 

"For  weeks  past  the  German  airmen  had  grown  strangely  shy. 
On  this  Wednesday  morning  none  were  aloft  to  spy  out  the  strange 
doings  which,  as  dawn  broke,  might  have  been  descried  on  the 
desolate  roads  behind  the  British  lines. 

"From  ten  o'clock  of  the  preceding  evening  endless  files  of 
men  marched  silently  down  the  roads  leading  towards  the  German 
positions  through  Laventie  and  Richebourg  St.  Vaast,  poor  shattered 
villages  of  the  dead  where  months  of  incessant  bombardment  have 
driven  away  the  last  inhabitants  and  left  roofless  houses  and  rent 
roadways.  .  .  . 

Two  days  before,  a  quiet  room,  where  Nelson's  Prayer 
stands  on  the  mantel-shelf,  saw  the  ripening  of  the  plans  that  sent 
these  sturdy  sons  of  Britain's  four  kingdoms  marching  all  through 
the  night.  *  Sir  John  French  met  the  army  corps  commanders  and 
unfolded  to  them  his  plans  for  the  offensive  of  the  British  army 
against  the  German  line  at  Neuve  Chapelle. 

"The  onslaught  was  to  be  a  surprise.  That  was  its  essence. 
.The  Germans  were  to  be  battered  with  artillery,  then  rushed  before 
they  recovered  their  wits.  We  had  thirty-six  clear  hours  before 
us.  Thus  long,  it  was  reckoned  (with  complete  accuracy  as  after- 
wards appeared),  must  elapse  before  the  Germans,  whose  line 
before  us  had  been  weakened,  could  rush  up  reinforcements.  To 
ensure  the  enemy's  being  pinned  down  right  and  left  of  the  'great 


NEUVE  CHAPELLE  AND  WAR 


269 


.-:#$,.-,,..''•-.-  •.:  y  / 
'F 


\  !Sfi*\l  *•?**>""?"  Ri«-  ^i-r-i 

_Jfe««Sai*—  2     jsP* 


MAP  OF  THE  BATTLE  FRONT  BETWEEN  ARMENTffiRES 

AND  LA  BASSEE 

On  the  left,  half  way  up  the  map,  may  be  seen  Neuve  Chapelle;  a  little  to 
the  right  of  it  is  Aubers,  where  some  of  the  sternest  fighting  occurred. 


16 


270  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

push/  an  attack  was  to  be  delivered  north  and  south  of  the  main 
thrust  simultaneously  with  the  assault  on  Neuve  Chapelle." 

After  describing  the  impatience  of  the  British  soldiers  as  they 
awaited  the  signal  to  open  the  attack,  and  the  actual  beginning  of 
the  engagement,  the  narrator  continues: 

"Then  hell  broke  loose.  With  a  mighty,  hideous,  screeching 
burst  of  noise,  hundreds  of  guns  spoke.  The  men  in  the  front 
trenches  were  deafened  by  the  sharp  reports  of  the  field-guns  spitting 
out  their  shells  at  close  range  to  cut  through  the  Germans'  barbed 
wire  entanglements.  In  some  cases  the  trajectory  of  these  vicious 
missiles  was  so  flat  that  they  passed  only  a  few  feet  above  the 
British  trenches. 

"The  din  was  continuous.  An  officer  who  had  the  curious 
idea  of  putting  his  ear  to  the  ground  said  it  was  as  though  the 
earth  were  being  smitten  great  blows  with  a  Titan's  hammer. 
After  the  first  few  shells  had  plunged  screaming  amid  clouds  of 
earth  and  dust  into  the  German  trenches,  a  dense  pall  of  smoke 
hung  over  the  German  lines.  The  sickening  fumes  of  lyddite 
blew  back  into  the  British  trenches.  In  some  places  the  troops 
were  smothered  ki  earth  and  dust  or  even  spattered  with  blood  from 
the  hideous  fragments  of  human  bodies  that  went  hurtling  through 
the  air.  At  one  point  the  upper  half  of  a  German  officer,  his  cap 
crammed  on  his  head,  was  blown  into  one  of  our  trenches. 

"Words  will  never  convoy  any  adequate  idea  of  the  horror  of 
those  five  and  thirty  minutes.  When  the  hands  of  officers'  watches 
pointed  to  five  minutes  past  eight,  whistles  resounded  along  the 
British  lines.  At  the  same  moment  the  shells  began  to  burst 
farther  ahead,  for,  by  previous  arrangement,  the  gunners,  lengthen- 
ing their  fuses,  were  'lifting'  on  to  the  village  of  Neuve  Chapelle  so 
as  to  leave  the  road  open  for  our  infantry  to  rush  in  and  finish 
what  the  guns  had  begun. 

"The  shells  were  now  falling  thick  among  the  houses  of  Neuve 
Chapelle,  a  confused  mass  of  buildings  seen  reddish  through  the 
pillars  of  smoke  and  flying  earth  and  dust.  At  the  sound  of  the 
whistle— alas  for  the  bugle,  once  the  herald  of  victory,  now  banished 
from  the  fray!— our  men  scrambled  out  of  the  trenches  and  hurried 
higgledy-piggledy  into  the  open.  Their  officers  were  in  front. 
Many,  wearing  overcoats  and  carrying  rifles  with  fixed  bayonets, 
closely  resembled  their  men. 


NEUVE  CHAPELLE  AND  WAR  271 

"It  was  from  the  center  of  our  attacking  line  that  the  assault 
was  pressed  home  soonest.  The  guns  had  done  their  work  well. 
The  trenches  were  blown  to  irrecognizable  pits  dotted  with  dead. 
The  barbed  wire  had  been  cut  like  so  much  twine.  Starting  from 
the  Rue  Tilleloy  the  Lincolns  and  the  Berkshires  were  off  the  mark 
first,  with  orders  to  swerve  to  right  and  left  respectively  as  soon  as 
they  had  captured  the  first  line  of  trenches,  in  order  to  let  the  Royal 
Irish  Rifles  and  the  Rifle  Brigade  through  to  the  village.  The 
Germans  left  alive  in  the  trenches,  half  demented  with  fright, 
surrounded  by  a  welter  of  dead  and  dying  men,  mostly  surrendered. 
The  Berkshires  were  opposed  with  the  utmost  gallantry  by  two 
German  officers  who  had  remained  alone  in  a  trench  serving  a 
machine  gun.  But  the  lads  from  Berkshire  made  their  way  into 
that  trench  and  bayoneted  the  Germans  where  they  stood,  fighting 
to  the  last.  The  Lincolns,  against  desperate  resistance,  eventually 
occupied  their  section  of  the  trench  and  then  waited  for  the  Irish- 
men and  the  Rifle  Brigade  to  come  and  take  the  village  ahead  of 
them.  Meanwhile  the  second  Thirty-ninth  Garhwalis  on  the 
right  had  taken  their  trenches  with  a  rush  and  were  away  towards 
the  village  and  the  Biez  Wood. 

"Things  had  moved  so  fast  that  by  the  time  the  troops  were 
ready  to  advance  against  the  village  the  artillery  had  not  finished 
its  work.  So,  while  the  Lincolns  and  the  Berks  assembled  the 
prisoners  who  were  trooping  out  of  the  trenches  in  all  directions, 
the  infantry  on  whom  devolved  the  honor  of  capturing  the  village, 
waited.  One  saw  them  standing  out  hi  the  open,  laughing  and 
cracking  jokes  amid  the  terrific  din  made  by  the  huge  howitzer 
shells  screeching  overhead  and  bursting  hi  the  village,  the  rattle  of 
machine  guns  all  along  the  line,  and  the  popping  of  rifles.  Over 
to  the  right  where  the  Garhwalis  had  been  working  with  the  bayonet, 
men  were  shouting  hoarsely  and  wounded  were  groaning  as  the 
stretcher-bearers,  all  heedless  of  bullets,  moved  swiftly  to  and  fro 
over  the  shell-torn  ground. 

"There  was  bloody  work  in  the  village  of  Neuve  Chapelle. 
The  capture  of  a  place  at  the  bayonet  point  is  generally  a  grim 
business,  hi  which  instant,  unconditional  surrender  is  the  only 
means  by  which  bloodshed,  a  deal  of  bloodshed,  can  be  prevented. 
If  there  is  individual  resistance  here  and  there  the  attacking  troops 
cannot  discriminate.  They  must  go  through,  slaying  as  they  go 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

such  as  oppose  them  (the  Germans  have  a  monopoly  of  tne  finish- 
ing-off  of  wounded  men),  otherwise  the  enemy's  resistance  would  not 
be  broken,  and  the  assailants  would  be  sniped  and  enfiladed  from 
hastily  prepared  strongholds  at  half  a  dozen  different  points. 

"The  village  was  a  sight  that  the  men  say  they  will  never 
forget.  It  looked  as  if  an  earthquake  had  struck  it.  The  pub- 
lished photographs  do  not  give  any  idea  of  the  indescribable  mass 
of  ruins  to  which  our  guns  reduced  it.  The  chaos  is  so  utter  that 
the  very  line  of  the  streets  is  all  but  obliterated. 

"It  was  indeed  a  scene  of  desolation  into  which  the  Rifle 
Brigade — the  first  regiment  to  enter  the  village,  I  believe — raced 
headlong.  Of  the  church  only  the  bare  shell  remained,  the  interior 
lost  to  view  beneath  a  gigantic  mound  of  debris.  The  little  church- 
yard was  devastated,  the  very  dead  plucked  from  their  graves, 
broken  coffins  and  ancient  bones  scattered  about  amid  the  fresher 
dead,  the  slain  of  that  morning — grey-green  forms  asprawl  athwart 
the  tombs.  Of  all  that  once  fair  village  but  two  things  remained 
intact — two  great  crucifixes  reared  aloft,  one  in  the  churchyard, 
the  other  over  against  the  chateau.  From  the  cross  that  is  the 
emblem  of  our  faith,  the  figure  of  Christ,  yet  intact  though  all 
pitted  with  bullet  marks,  looked  down  in  mute  agony  on  the  slain 
in  the  village. 

"The  din  and  confusion  were  indescribable.  Through  the 
thick  pall  of  shell  smoke  Germans  were  seen  on  all  sides,  some 
emerging  half  dazed  from  cellars  and  dugouts,  their  hands  above 
their  heads,  others  dodging  round  the  shattered  houses,  others 
firing  from  the  windows,  from  behind  carts,  even  from  behind  the 
overturned  tombstones.  Machine  guns  were  firing  from  the  houses 
on  the  outskirts,  rapping  out  their  nerve-racking  note  above  the 
noise  of  the  rules. 

"Just  outside  the  village  there  was  a  scene  of  tremendous 
enthusiasm.  The  Rifle  Brigade,  smeared  with  dust  and  blood,  fell 
in  with  the  Third  Gurkhas  with  whom  they  had  been  brigaded  in 
India.  The  little  brown  men  were  dirty  but  radiant.  Kukri  in 
hand  they  had  very  thoroughly  gone  through  some  houses  at  the 
cross-roads  on  the  Rue  du  Bois  and  silenced  a  party  of  Germans 
who  were  making  themselves  a  nuisance  there  with  some  machine 
guns.  Riflemen  and  Gurkhas  cheered  themselves  hoarse." 

Unfortunately  for  the  complete  success  of  the  brilliant  attack 


NEUVE  CHAPELLE  AND  WAR 


273 


SCENE  OF  THE  BLOODY  BATTLES  OF  THE  SOMME 
The  tide  of  war  swept  over  this  terrain  with  terrific  violence.  Peronne 
was  taken  by  the  British  in  their  great  offensives  of  1916-17;  in  the  last 
desperate  effort  of  the  Germans  in  1918  they  plunged  through  Peronne, 
advancing  35  miles,  only  to  be  hurled  back  with  awful  losses  by  Marshal 
Foch.  The  town  of  Albert  was  taken  and  retaken  severai  times. 


274  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

a  great  delay  was  caused  by  the  failure  of  the  artillery  that  was  to 
have  cleared  the  barbed  wire  entanglements  for  the  Twenty-third 
Brigade,  and  because  of  the  unlocked  for  destruction  of  the  British 
field  telephone  system  by  shell  and  rifle  fire.  The  check  of  the 
Twenty-third  Brigade  banked  other  commands  back  of  it,  and  the 
Twenty-fifth  Brigade  was  obliged  to  fight  at  right  angles  to  the 
line  of  battle.  The  Germans  quickly  rallied  at  these  points,  and 
took  a  terrific  toll  in  British  lives.  Particularly  was  this  true  at 
three  specially  strong  German  positions.  One  called  Port  Arthur 
by  the  British,  another  at  Pietre  Mill  and  the  third  was  the  fortified 
bridge  over  Des  Layes  Creek. 

Because  of  the  lack  of  telephone  communication  it  was  impos- 
sible to  send  reinforcements  to  the  troops  that  had  been  held  up  by 
barbed  wire  and  other  emplacements  and  upon  which  German 
machine  guns  were  pouring  a  steady  stream  of  death. 

As  the  Twenty-third  Brigade  had  been  held  up  by  unbroken 
barbed  wire  northwest  of  Neuve  Chapelle,  so  the  Seventh  Division 
of  the  Fourth  Corps  was  also  checked  in  its  action  against  the 
ridge  of  Aubers  on  the  left  of  Neuve  Chapelle.  Under  the  plan 
of  Sir  Douglas  Haig  the  Seventh  Division  was  to  have  waited  until 
the  Eighth  Division  had  reached  Neuve  Chapelle,  when  it  was  to 
charge  through  Aubers.  With  the  tragic  mistake  that  cost  the 
Twenty-third  Brigade  so  dearly,  the  plan  affecting  the  Seventh 
Division  went  awry.  The  German  artillery,  observing  the  con- 
centration of  the  Seventh  Division  opposite  Aubers,  opened  a 
vigorous  fire  upon  that  front.  During  the  afternoon  General  Haig 
ordered  a  charge  upon  the  German  positions.  The  advance  was 
made  in  short  rushes  hi  the  face  of  a  fire  that  seemed  to  blaze  from 
an  inferno.  Inch  by  inch  the  ground  was  drenched  with  British 
blood.  At  5.30  in  the  afternoon  the  men  dug  themselves  hi  under 
the  relentless  German  fire.  Further  advance  became  Impossible. 

The  night  was  one  of  horror.  Every  minute  the  men  were  under 
heavy  bombardment.  At  dawn  on  March  llth  the  dauntless 
British  infantry  rushed  from  the  trenches  in  an  effort  to  carry 
Aubers,  but  the  enemy  artillery  now  greatly  reinforced  made  that 
task  an  impossible  one.  The  trenches  occupied  by  the  British 
forces  were  consolidated  and  the  salient  made  by  the  push  was 
held  by  the  British  with  bulldog  tenacity. 

The  number  of  men  employed  in  the  action  on  the  British  side 


NEUVE  CHAPELLE  AND  WAR  275 

was  forty-eight  thousand.  During  the  early  surprise  of  the  action 
the  loss  was  slight.  Had  the  wire  in  front  of  the  Twenty-third 
Brigade  been  cut  by  the  artillery  assigned  to  such  action,  and  had 
the  telephone  system  not  been  destroyed  the  success  of  the  thrust 
would  have  been  complete.  The  delay  of  four  and  a  half  hours 
between  the  first  and  second  phases  of  the  attack  caused  virtually 
all  the  losses  sustained  by  the  attacking  force.  The  total  casualties 
were  12,811  men  of  the  British  forces.  Of  these  1,751  officers  and 
privates  were  taken  prisoners  and  10,000  officers  and  men  were 
killed  and  wounded. 

The  action  continued  throughout  Thursday,  March  llth,  with 
little  change  in  the  general  situation.  The  British  still  held  Neuve 
Chapelle  and  their  intrenchments  threatened  Aubers.  On  Friday 
morning,  March  12th,  the  Crown  Prince  of  Bavaria  made  a  desperate 
attempt  under  cover  of  a  heavy  fog  to  recapture  the  village.  The 
effort  was  made  in  characteristic  German  dense  formations.  The 
Westphalian  and  Bavarian  troops  came  out  of  Biez  Wood  in  waves 
of  gray-green,  only  to  be  blown  to  pieces  by  British  guns  already 
loaded  and  laid  on  the  mark.  Elsewhere  the  British  waited  until 
the  Germans  were  scarcely  more  than  fifty  paces  away  when  they 
opened  with  deadly  rapid  fire  before  which  the  German  waves 
melted  like  snow  before  steam.  It  was  such  slaughter  as  the 
British  had  experienced  when  held  up  before  Aubers.  Slaughter 
that  staggered  Germany. 

So  ended  Neuve  Chapelle,  a  battle  in  which  the  decision  rested 
with  the  British,  a  victory  for  which  a  fearful  price  had  been  paid 
but  out  of  which  came  a  confidence  that  was  to  hearten  the  British 
nation  and  to  put  sinews  of  steel  into  the  British  army  for  the  dread 
days  to  come. 

The  story  of  Neuve  Chapelle  was  repeated  in  large  and  in 
miniature  many  times  during  the  deadlock  of  trench  warfare  on  the 
western  front  until  victory  finally  came  to  the  Allies.  During 
those  years  the  western  battle  front  lay  like  a  wounded  snake 
across  France  and  Belgium.  It  writhed  and  twisted,  now  this 
way,  now  that,  as  one  side  or  the  other  gambled  with  men  and 
shells  and  airplanes  for  some  brief  advantage.  It  bent  back  in  a 
great  bulge  when  von  Hindenburg  made  his  famous  retreat  in  the 
winter  of  1916  after  the  Allies  had  pressed  heavily  against  the 
Teutonic  front  upon  the  ghasty  field  of  the  Somme.  The  record  is 


276  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

one  of  great  value  to  military  strategists,  to  the  layman  it  is  only 
a  succession  of  artillery  barrages,  of  gas  attacks,  of  aerial  recon- 
naissances and  combats. 

One  day  grew  to  be  very  much  like  another  in  that  deadlock 
of  pythons.  A  play  for  position  here  was  met  by  a  counter-thrust 
in  another  place.  German  inventions  were  outmatched  and  out- 
numbered by  those  coming  from  the  Allied  side. 

Trench  warfare  became  the  daily  life  of  the  men.  They  learned 
to  fight  and  live  in  the  open.  The  power  of  human  adaptation  to 
abnormal  conditions  was  never  better  exemplified  than  in  those 
weary,  dreary  years  on  the  western  front. 

The  fighting-lines  consisted  generally  of  one,  two,  or  three 
lines  of  shelter-trenches  lying  parallel,  measuring  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  inches  in  width,  and  varying  hi  length  according  to  the  number 
they  hold;  the  trenches  were  joined  together  by  zigzag  approaches 
and  by  a  line  of  reinforced  trenches  (armed  with  machine  guns), 
which  were  almost  completely  proof  against  rifle,  machine  gun,  or 
gun  fire.  The  ordinary  German  trenches  were  almost  invisible  from 
350  yards  away,  a  distance  which  permitted  a  very  deadly  fire. 
It  is  easy  to  realize  that  if  the  enemy  occupied  three  successive 
lines  and  a  line  of  reinforced  intrenchments,  the  attacking  line  was 
likely,  at  the  lowest  estimate,  to  be  decimated  during  an  advance 
of  350  yards — by  rifle  fire  at  a  range  of  350  yards'  distance,  and  by 
the  extremely  quick  fire  of  the  machine  guns,  each  of  which  delivered 
from  300  to  600  bullets  a  minute  with  absolute  precision.  In  the 
field-trench,  a  soldier  enjoyed  far  greater  security  than  he  would  if 
merely  prone  behind  his  knapsack  hi  an  excavation  barely  fifteen 
inches  deep.  He  had  merely  to  stoop  down  a  little  to  disappear 
below  the  level  of  the  ground  and  be  immune  from  infantry  fire; 
moreover,  his  machine  guns  fired  without  endangering  him.  In 
addition,  this  stooping  position  brought  the  man's  knapsack  on  a 
level  with  his  helmet,  thus  forming  some  protection  against  shrapnel 
and  shell-splinters. 

At  the  back  of  the  German  trenches  shelters  were  dug  for 
non-commissioned  officers  and  for  the  commander  of  the  unit. 

Ever  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  the  French  troops  in 
Lorraine,  after  severe  experiences,  realized  rapidly  the  advantages 
of  the  German  trenches,  and  began  to  study  those  they  had  taken 
gloriously.  Officers,  non-commissioned  officers,  and  men  of  the 


NEUVE  CHAPELLE  AND  WAR  279 

engineers  were  straightway  detached  in  every  unit  to  teach  the 
infantry  how  to  construct  similar  shelters.  The  education  was 
quick,  and  very  soon  they  had  completed  the  work  necessary  for 
the  protection  of  all.  The  tools  of  the  enemy  "  casualties,"  the 
spades  and  picks  left  behind  in  deserted  villages,  were  all  gladly 
piled  on  to  the  French  soldiers'  knapsacks,  to  be  carried  willingly 
by  the  very  men  who  used  to  grumble  at  being  loaded  with  even  the 
smallest  regulation  tool  As  soon  as  night  had  set  in  on  the  occa- 
sion of  a  lull  in  the  fighting,  the  digging  of  the  trenches  was  begun. 
Sometimes,  in  the  darkness,  the  men  of  each  fighting  nation — less 
than  500  yards  away  from  their  enemy — would  hear  the  noise  of 
the  workers  of  the  foe:  the  sounds  of  picks  and  axes;  the  officers' 
words  of  encouragement;  and  tacitly  they  would  agree  to  an  armis- 
tice during  which  to  dig  shelters  from  which,  in  the  morning,  they 
would  dash  out,  to  fight  once  more. 

Commodious,  indeed,  were  some  of  the  trench  barracks. 
One  French  soldier  wrote: 

"In  really  up-to-date  intrenchments  you  may  find  kitcnens, 
dining-rooms,  bedrooms,  and  even  stables  One  regiment  has 
first-class  cow-sheds  One  day  a  whimsical  'piou-piou, '  finding 
a  cow  wandering  about  hi  the  danger  zone,  had  the  bright  idea  of 
finding  shelter  for  it  in  the  trenches  The  example  was  quickly 
followed,  and  at  this  moment  the  — th  Infantry  possess  an  under- 
ground farm,  in  which  fat  kine,  well  cared  for,  give  such  quantities 
of  milk  that  regular  distributions  of  butter  are  being  made — and 
very  good  butter,  too  " 

But  this  is  not  all  An  officer  writes  home  a  tale  of  yet  another 
one  of  the  comforts  of  home  added  to  the  equipment  of  the  trenches: 

"We  are  clean  people  here  Thanks  to  the  ingenuity  of , 

we  are  able  to  take  a  warm  bath  every  day  from  ten  to  twelve. 
We  call  this  teasing  the  'bosches,'  for  this  bathing-establishment  of 
the  latest  type  is  fitted  up — would  you  believe  it? — in  the  trenches!" 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

STEADFAST  SOUTH  AFRICA 

WHEN  Germany  struck  at  the  heart  of  France  through 
Belgium  simultaneous  action  was  undertaken  by  the 
German    Command    in    Southwest    Africa    through 
propaganda  and  mobilization  of  the  available  German 
troops.    Insidiously  and  by  the  use  of  money  systematic  propaganda 
was  instituted  to  corrupt  the  Boers  against  their  allegiance  to  the 
Union  of  South  Africa.     One  great  character  stood  like  a  rock 
against  all  their  efforts.     It  was  the  character  of  General  Louis 
Botha,  formerly  arrayed  in  battle  against  the  British  during  the 
Boer  uprising. 

With  characteristic  determination  he  formulated  plans  for  the 
invasion  of  German  Southwest  Africa  without  asking  permission 
of  the  citizens  of  the  South  African  Union  or  of  the  British  Foreign 
Office.  His  vision  comprehended  an  invasion  that  would  have  as 
its  culmination  a  British-Boer  colony  where  the  German  colony 
had  been,  and  that  from  Cable  Bay  to  the  source  of  the  Nile  there 
would  be  one  mighty  union,  with  a  great  trunk  railway  feeding 
Egypt,  the  Soudan,  Rhodesia,  Uganda,  and  the  Union  of  South 
Africa.  An  able  lieutenant  to  Botha  was  General  Smuts.  He 
co-operated  with  his  chief  in  a  campaign  of  education.  They 
pointed  out  the  absolute  necessity  for  deafness  to  the  German 
tempters,  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  full  co-operation  for  the 
Botha  plan  of  invasion  from  the  British  Imperial  Government  and 
the  South  African  Union.  Concerning  this  agreement  General 
Botha  said: 

"To  forget  their  loyalty  to  the  empire  in  this  hour  of  trial 
would  be  scandalous  and  shameful,  and  would  blacken  South 
Africa  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world.  Of  this  South  Africans  were 
incapable.  They  had  endured  some  of  the  greatest  sacrifices  that 
could  be  demanded  of  a  people,  but  they  had  always  kept  before 
them  ideals,  founded  on  Christianity,  and  never  in  their  darkest 
days  had  they  sought  to  gain  their  ends  by  treasonable  means. 

280 


STEADFAST  SOUTH  AFRICA  281 

The  path  of  treason  was  an  unknown  path  to  Dutch  and  English 
alike. 

"Their  duty  and  their  conscience  alike  bade  them  be  faithful 
and  true  to  the  Imperial  Government  in  all  respects  in  this  hour  of 
darkness  and  trouble.  That  was  the  attitude  of  the  Union  Govern- 
ment; that  was  the  attitude  of  the  people  of  South  Africa.  The 
government  had  cabled  to  the  Imperial  Government  at  the  out- 
break of  war,  offering  to  undertake  the  defense  of  South  Africa, 
thereby  releasing  the  Imperial  troops  for  service  elsewhere.  This 
was  accepted,  and  the  Union  Defense  Force  was  mobilized." 

Preliminary  to  the  invasion  of  German  Southwest  Africa, 
General  Botha  proclaimed  martial  law  throughout  the  Union. 
The  first  act  in  consequence  of  this  proclamation  was  the  arrest 
of  a  number  of  conspirators  who  were  planning  sedition  throughout 
the  Union.  The  head  of  this  conspiracy  was  Lieutenant-Colonel 
S.  G.  Maritz.  General  Beyers  and  General  De  Wet,  both  Boer 
officers  of  high  standing,  co-operated  with  Maritz  in  an  abortive 
rebellion.  The  situation  was  most  trying  for  the  native  Boers  and, 
to  then:  credit  be  it  recorded,  the  great  majority  of  them  stood  out 
strongly  against  the  Germans.  Vigorous  action  by  Botha  and 
Smuts  smashed  the  rebellion  in  the  fall  of  1914.  A  force  acting 
under  General  Botha  in  person  attacked  the  troops  under  General 
Beyers  at  Rustemburg  on  October  27th,  and  on  the  next  day 
General  Beyers  sought  refuge  hi  flight.  A  smaller  force  acting 
under  General  Kemp  was  also  routed  on  November  5th. 

General  De  Wet  opened  his  campaign  of  rebellion  on  November 
Vth  in  an  action  at  Wimburg,  where  he  defeated  a  smaller  force  of 
Loyalists  under  General  Cronje.  The  decisive  battle  at  Marquard 
occurred  on  November  12th,  Botha  commanding  the  Loyalists 
forces  in  person  and  De  Wet  the  rebels.  The  victory  of  Botha  in 
this  fierce  engagement  was  complete.  De  Wet  was  routed  and  was 
captured  on  December  1st  with  a  rear-guard  of  fifty-two  men. 
General  Beyers  was  drowned  on  December  9th  while  attempting 
to  escape  from  the  Vail  into  the  Transvaal.  This  virtually  ended 
all  opposition  to  General  Botha.  The  invasion  of  German  South- 
west Africa  began  on  January  5,  1915,  and  was  one  uninterrupted 
chapter  of  successes.  Through  jungle  and  -  swamp,  swept  by 
torrential  rains  and  encountering  obstacles  that  would  have  dis- 
heartened any  but  the  stoutest  heart,  the  little  force  of  invasion 


282  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

swept  forward.  Most  of  the  engagements  by  the  enemy  were  in 
the  nature  of  guerrilla  and  rear-guard  actions.  The  backbone  of 
the  German  command  was  broken  and  the  remaining  forces 
capitulated  in  July,  1915. 

With  the  capitulation  came  the  story  of  the  German  mis- 
management in  Southwest  Africa,  and  particularly  their  horrible 
treatment  of  the  Hereros  apd  Hottentots  in  the  country  mis- 
governed by  them.  An  official  report  fully  authenticated  was 
made  and  none  of  its  essential  details  were  refuted. 

The  report  told  the  story  of  how  the  German  authorities 
exterminated  the  native  Hereros.  When  Germany  annexed  the 
country  in  1890  they  were  believed  to  possess  well  over  150,000  head 
of  cattle.  After  the  rinderpest  scourge  of  1897  they  still  owned 
something  like  90,000  head.  By  1902,  less  than  ten  years  after 
the  arrival  of  the  first  German  settlers,  the  Hereros  had  only 
45,898  head  of  cattle,  while  the  1,051  German  traders  and  farmers 
then  in  the  country  owned  44,487.  The  policy  of  robbing  and 
killing  the  natives  had  by  that  time  received  the  sanction  of  Berlin. 
By  the  end  of  1905  the  surviving  Hereros  had  been  reduced  to 
pauperism  and  possessed  nothing  at  all.  In  1907  the  Imperial 
German  Government  by  ordinance  prohibited  the  natives  of 
Southwest  Africa  from  possessing  live  stock. 

The  wholesale  theft  of  the  natives'  cattle,  their  only  wealth, 
with  the  direct  connivance  and  approval  of  the  Berlin  Government, 
was  one  of  the  primary  causes  of  the  Herero  rebellion  of  1904.  The 
revolt  was  suppressed  with  characteristic  German  ruthlessness. 
But  the  Germans  were  not  content  with  a  mere  suppression  of  the 
rising;  they  had  decided  upon  the  practical  extinction  of  the 
whole  tribe.  For  this  purpose  Leutwein,  who  was  apparently 
regarded  as  too  lenient,  was  superseded  by  von  Trotha,  noted  for 
his  merciless  severity.  He  had  played  a  notorious  part  in  the 
Chinese  Boxer  rebellion,  and  had  just  suppressed  the  Arab  rising 
in  German  East  Africa  by  the  wholesale  massacre  of  men,  women, 
and  children.  As  a  preliminary  von  Trotha  invited  the  Herero 
chiefs  to  come  in  and  make  peace,  "as  the  war  was  now  over," 
and  promptly  shot  them  in  cold  blood.  Then  he  issued  his  notorious 
"extermination  order,"  in  terms  of  which  no  Herero— man,  woman, 
child,  or  babe— was  to  receive  mercy  or  quarter.  "Kill  every  one 
of  them,"  he  said,  "and  take  no  prisoners." 


STEADFAST  SOUTH  AFRICA  283 

The  hanging  of  natives  was  a  common  occurrence.  A  German 
officer  had  the  right  to  order  a  native  to  be  hanged.  No  trial  or 
court  was  necessary.  Many  were  hanged  merely  on  suspicion. 

The  Hereros  were  far  more  humane  hi  the  field  than  the 
Germans.  They  were  once  a  fine  race.  Now  there  is  only  a 
miserable  remnant  left. 

This  is  amply  proved  by  official  German  statistics.  Out  of 
between  80,000  and  90,000  souls,  only  about  15,000  starving  and 
fugitive  Hereros  were  alive  at  the  end  of  1905,  when  von  Trotha 
relinquished  his  task.  In  1911,  after  all  rebellions  had  been 
suppressed  and  tranquillity  restored,  the  government  had  a  census 
taken.  The  figures,  reproduced  below,  speak  for  themselves: 


Estimate  Official  Census 

1904  19 11 


Decrease 


Hereros 80,000  15,130  64,870 

Hottentots 20,000  9,781  10,219 

Berg-Darnaras 30,000  12,831  17,109 


130,000  37,742  92,258 

In  other  words,  eighty  per  cent  of  the  Herero  people  dis- 
appeared, and  more  than  half  of  the  Hottentot  and  Berg-Damara 
races  shared  the  same  fate.  Dr.  Paul  Rohrbach's  dictum,  "It  is 
applicable  to  a  nation  in  the  same  way  as  to  the  individual  that 
the  right  of  existence  is  primarily  justified  in  the  degree  that  such 
existence  is  useful  for  progress  and  general  development,"  comes 
forcible  to  mind.  These  natives  of  Southwest  Africa  had  been 
weighed  in  the  German  balance  and  had  been  found  wanting. 

Germany  lost  more  than  a  million  square  miles  of  territory 
in  Africa  as  a  direct  consequence  of  General  Botha's  bold  action. 
These  are  divided  hi  four  great  regions,  Southwest  Africa,  Kamerun, 
Togo  and  East  Africa.  Togoland  as  this  region  is  popularly  known 
extends  from  the  north  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Guinea  into  the  interior 
and  is  bounded  by  French  and  British  colonies.  By  a  joint  attack 
of  French  and  British  forces,  beginning  the  second  week  in  August, 
1914,  the  German  power  in  this  rich  domain  was  completely  broken, 
and  the  conquest  of  Togoland  was  complete  on  August  26,  1914. 
The  military  operation  was  of  a  desultory  nature,  and  the  losses 
negligible  in  view  of  the  area  of  33,000  square  miles  of  highly  pro- 
ductive land  passed  from  German  control. 

The  fighting  in  the  great  region  of  Kamerun  was  somewhat 


284 

more  stubborn  than  that  in  Togoland.  The  villages  of  Bonaberi 
and  Duala  were  particularly  well  defended.  The  British  and 
French  fought  through  swamps  and  jungle  under  the  handicap  of 
terrific  heat,  and  always  with  victory  at  the  end  of  the  engagement. 
The  conquest  of  the  Kamerun  was  complete  by  the  end  of  June, 
1915.  In  addition  to  the  operations  by  the  British  and  French  a 
combined  Belgian  and  French  force  captured  Molundu  and 
Ngaundera  in  the  German  Congo. 

The  raids  by  General  Botha  on  German  Southwest  Africa, 
commenced  on  September  27,  1914.  A  series  of  brilliant  strategic 
actions  resulted  hi  the  conquest  of  a  region  once  and  a  half  the 
size  of  the  German  Empire  at  the  time  the  Great  War  began.  A 
British  description  of  the  operation  states: 

The  occupation  of  Windhoek  was  effected  by  General  Botha's 
North  Damaraland  forces  working  along  the  railway  from  Swakop- 
mund.  At  the  former  place  General  Vanderventer  joined  up  with 
General  Botha's  forces.  The  force  from  Swakopmund  met  with 
considerable  opposition,  first  at  Tretskopje,  a  small  township  in 
the  great  Namib  Desert  fifty  miles  to  the  northeast  of  Swakopmund, 
and  secondly  at  Otjimbingwe,  on  the  Swakop  River,  sixty  miles 
northwest  of  Windhoek.  Apart  from  these  two  determined  stands, 
however,  little  other  opposition  was  encountered,  and  Karibib  was 
occupied  on  May  5th  and  Okahandja  and  Windhoek  on  May  12th. 
With  the  fall  of  the  latter  place,  3,000  Europeans  and  12,000  natives 
became  prisoners. 

The  wireless  station — one  of  Germany's  most  valuable  high- 
power  stations,  which  was  able  to  communicate  with  one  relay 
only,  with  Berlin— was  captured  almost  intact,  and  much  rolling 
stock  also  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Union  forces. 

The  advance  from  the  south  along  the  Luderitzbucht-Seeheim- 
Keetmanshoop  Railway,  approximately  500  miles  in  length,  was 
made  by  two  forces  which  joined  hands  at  Keetmanshoop.  The 
advance  from  Aus  (captured  on  April  10th)  was  made  by  General 
Smuts's  forces.  Colonel  (afterward  General)  Vanderventer,  moving 
up  from  the  direction  of  Warmbad  and  Kalkfontein,  around  the 
flanks  of  Karas  Mountain,  pushed  on  after  reaching  Keetmanshoop 
in  the  direction  of  Gibeon.  Bethany  had  previously  been  occupied 
during  the  advance  to  Seeheim.  At  Kabus,  twenty  miles  to  the 
north  of  Keetmanshoop,  and  at  Gibeon  pitched  battles  were  fought 


STEADFAST  SOUTH  AFRICA  285 

between  General  Vanderventer's  forces  and  the  enemy.  No  other 
opposition  of  importance  was  encountered,  and  the  operations  were 
brought  to  a  successful  conclusion 

The  stiffest  fighting  hi  all  Africa  came  hi  German  East  Africa. 
It  began  in  late  September,  1914,  and  continued  until  mid-June, 
1915.  The  Germans,  curiously  enough,  commenced  the  offensive 
here  with  an  attack  upon  Monbasa,  the  terminus  of  the  Uganda 
railway  and  the  capital  of  British  East  Africa.  The  attack  was 
planned  as  a  joint  naval  and  military  operation,  the  German 
cruiser  Koenigsburg  being  assigned  to  move  into  the  harbor  and 
bombard  the  town  simultaneously  with  the  assault  by  land.  The 
plan  went  awry  when  the  presence  of  British  warships  frightened 
off  the  Koenigsburg.  The  land  attack  was  easily  checked  by  a 
detachment  of  the  King's  African  Rifles  and  native  Arabian  troops 
until  the  detachments  of  Indian  Regulars  arrived  upon  the  scene. 
The  enemy  thereupon  retreated  to  his  original  plans. 

British  reprisals  came  early  hi  November,  when  the  towns  of 
Tanga  and  Gassin  were  attacked  by  British  troops.  The  troops 
selected  for  this  adventure  numbered  6,000  and  carried  only  food, 
water,  guns  and  munitions.  No  protection  of  any  kind  nor  any 
other  equipment  was  taken  by  the  soldiers.  Reinforcements  to  the 
German  forces  delayed  the  capture  of  Gassin  until  January.  A 
garrison  of  three  hundred  men  was  left  there  and  this  hi  turn  was 
besieged  by  three  thousand  Germans.  After  a  stubborn  defense 
the  Germans  recaptured  the  town.  A  union  of  two  British  forces 
was  accomplished  early  in  June,  1915.  One  of  these  cut  through 
German  East  Africa  along  the  Kagera  River  and  the  other  advanced 
on  steamers  from  Kisumu.  They  met  the  enemy  on  June  22d  and 
defeated  it  with  heavy  casualties.  Later  General  Tighe,  com- 
manding the  combined  British  forces,  was  congratulated  on  the 
completeness  of  his  victory  on  June  28th,  by  General  Kitchener. 

The  territory  acquired  by  the  British  as  a  consequence  of  the 
invasion  of  Germany's  African  possessions,  possesses  formidable 
natural  barriers,  but  once  these  are  past  the  traveller  finds  lands  of 
wonderful  fertility  and  great  natural  resources.  Approaching 
German  Southwest  Africa  from  the  east,  access  is  across  the  Kala- 
hari Desert.  This  in  its  trackless  desolation,  its  frequent  sand- 
storms and  torrid  heat  through  which  only  the  hardiest  and  best 
provisioned  caravans  may  penetrate  is  worse  than  the  worst  that 


286  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Sahara  can  show.  There  is  not  a  sign  of  life.  Approached  from 
the  sea  the  principal  port  is  Walfish  Bay,  a  fair  harbor  that  was 
improved  by  the  British  when  they  occupied  it.  Near  Walfish 
some  of  the  largest  diamonds  hi  the  history  of  the  world  have  been 
found  and  gold  fields  of  considerable  richness  have  been  worked. 
The  climate  of  German  Southwest  Africa,  after  the  torrential 
storms  of  the  seacoast  and  the  terrific  heat  of  the  desert  have  been 
passed,  is  one  of  the  most  salubrious  in  the  world.  It  is  unique 
among  African  regions  hi  the  opportunities  it  affords  for  coloniza- 
tion by  white  men.  Great  Britain  possessed  large  holdings  of  this 
land  before  Germany  came  into  possession,  but  abandoned  them 
under  the  belief  that  the  region  was  comparatively  worthless. 
There  was  no  misapprehension  on  this  score  when  all  of  the  lands 
came  into  the  possession  of  England  as  the  result  of  the  war. 


CHAPTER   XIX 
ITALY  DECLARES  WAR  ON  AUSTRIA 

FOR  many  years  before  the  great  war  began  the  great  powers 
of  Europe  were  divided  into  two  great  alliances,  the  Triple 
Entente,  composed  of  Russia,  France  and  England,  and 
the  Triple  Alliance,  composed  of  Germany,  Austria  and 
Italy.     When  the  war  began  Italy  refused  to  join  with  Germany 
and  Austria.     Why?     The  answer  to  this  question  throws  a  vivid 
light  on  the  origin  of  the  war. 

Italy  was  a  member  of  the  Triple  Alliance ;  she  knew  the  facts, 
not  only  what  was  given  to  the  public,  but  the  inside  facts.  Accord- 
ing to  the  terms  of  the  alliance  each  member  was  bound  to  stand 
by  each  other  only  in  case  of  attack.  Italy  refused  to  join  with 
Austria  and  Germany  because  they  were  the  aggressors.  The 
constant  assertions  of  the  German  statesmen,  and  of  the  Kaiser 
himself,  that  war  had  been  forced  upon  them  were  declared  untrue 
by  their  associate  Italy  in  the  very  beginning,  and  the  verdict  of 
Italy  was  the  verdict  of  the  world.  Not  much  was  said  in  the 
beginning  about  Italy's  abstention  from  war.  The  Germans,  indeed, 
sneered  a  little  and  hinted  that  some  day  Italy  would  be  made  to 
regret  her  course,  but  now  that  the  Teuton  snake  is  scotched  the 
importance  of  Italy's  action  has  been  perceived  and  appraised  at 
its  true  value. 

.  The  Germans  from  the  very  beginning  understood  the  real 
danger  that  might  come  to  the  Central  Powers  through  Italian 
action.  Every  effort  was  made  by  the  foreign  office  to  keep  her 
neutral.  First  threats  were  used,  later  promises  were  held  out  of 
addition  to  Italian  territory  if  she  would  send  her  troops  to  Ger- 
many's assistance.  When  this  failed  the  most  strenuous  efforts 
were  made  to  keep  Italy  neutral,  and  a  former  German  premier, 
Prince  von  Billow,  was  sent  to  Italy  for  this  purpose.  Socialist 
leaders,  too,  were  sent  from  Germany  to  urge  the  Italian  Socialists 
to  insist  upon  neutrality. 

In  July,  1914,  the  Italian  Government  was  not  taken  by 

287 


288  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

surprise.  They  had  observed  the  increase  year  by  year  of  the 
German  army  and  of  the  German  fleet.  At  the  end  of  the  Balkan 
wars  they  had  been  asked  whether  they  would  agree  to  an  Austrian 
attack  upon  Serbia.  They  had  consequently  long  been  deliberating 
as  to  what  their  course  should  be  hi  case  of  war,  and  they  had  made 
up  their  minds  that  under  no  circumstances  would  they  aid  Ger- 
many against  England. 

Quite  independently  of  her  long-standing  friendship  with 
England  it  would  be  suicide  to  Italy  hi  her  geographical  position  to 
enter  into  a  war  which  should  permit  her  coast  to  be  attacked  by 
the  English  and  French  navies,  and  her  participation  in  the  Triple 
Alliance  always  carried  the  proviso  that  it  did  not  bind  her  to 
fight  England.  This  was  well  known  in  the  German  foreign  office, 
and,  indeed,  hi  France  where  the  writers  upon  war  were  reckoning 
confidently  on  the  withdrawing  of  Italy  from  the  Triple  Alliance, 
and  planning  to  use  the  entire  forces  of  France  against  Germany. 

A  better  understanding  of  the  Italian  position  will  result  from 
a  consideration  of  the  origin  of  the  Triple  Alliance. 

After  the  war  of  1870,  Bismarck,  perceiving  the  quick  recovery 
of  France,  considered  the  advisibility  of  attacking  her  again, 
and,  to  use  his  own  words,  "bleeding  her  white."  He  found, 
however,  that  if  this  were  attempted  France  would  be  joined  by 
Russia  and  England  and  he  gave  up  this  plan.  In  order,  however, 
to  render  France  powerless  he  planned  an  alliance  which  should  be 
able  to  control  Europe.  A  league  between  Germany,  Austria  and 
Russia  was  his  desire,  and  for  some  tune  every  opportunity  was 
taken  to  develop  friendship  with  the  Czar.  Russia,  however, 
remained  cool.  Her  Pan-Slavonic  sympathies  were  opposed  to 
the  interests  of  Germany.  Bismarck,  therefore,  determined, 
without  losing  the  friendship  of  Russia,  to  persuade  Italy  to  join  in 
the  continental  combination.  Italy,  at  the  tune,  was  the  least 
formidable  of  the  six  great  powers,  but  Bismarck  foresaw  that  she 
could  be  made  good  use  of  in  such  a  combination. 

At  that  time  Italy,  just  after  the  completion  of  Italian  unity, 
found  herself  hi  great  perplexity.  Her  treatment  of  the  Pope  had 
brought  about  the  hostility  of  Roman  Catholics  throughout  the 
world.  She  feared  both  France  and  Austria,  who  were  strong 
Catholic  countries,  and  hardly  knew  where  to  look  for  friends. 
The  great  Italian  leader  at  the  time  was  Francesco  Crispi,  who, 


ITALY  DECLARES  WAR  ON  AUSTRIA       289 

beginning  as  a  Radical  and  a  conspirator,  had  become  a  constitu- 
tional statesman.  Bismarck  professed  the  greatest  friendship  for 
Crispi,  and  gave  Crispi  to  understand  that  he  approved  of  Italy's 
aspirations  on  the  Adriatic  and  in  Tunis. 

The  next  year,  however,  at  the  Berlin  Congress,  Italy's  interests 
were  ignored,  and  finally,  in  1882,  France  seized  Tunis,  to  the  great 
indignation  of  the  Italians.  It  has  been  shown  in  more  recent 
tunes  that  the  French  seizure  of  Tunis  was  directly  due  to  Bismarck's 
instigation. 

The  Italians  having  been  roused  to  wrath,  Bismarck  proceeded 
to  offer  them  a  place  in  the  councils  of  the  Triple  Alliance.  It  was 
an  easy  argument  that  such  an  alliance  would  protect  them  against 
France,  and  no  doubt  it  was  promised  that  it  would  free  them  from 
the  danger  of  attack  by  Austria.  England,  at  the  time,  was 
isolated,  and  Italy  continued  on  the  best  understanding  with  her. 

The  immediate  result  of  the  alliance  was  a  growth  of  Italian 
hostility  toward  France,  which  led,  in  1889,  to  a  tariff  war  on  France. 
Meanwhile  German  commercial  and  financial  enterprises  were 
pushed  throughout  the  Italian  peninsula.  VvTiat  did  Italy  gain 
by  this?  Her  commerce  was  weakened,  and  Austria  permitted 
herself  every  possible  unfriendly  act  except  open  war. 

As  time  went  on  Germany  and  Austria  became  more  and  more 
arrogant.  Italy's  ambitions  on  the  Balkan  peninsula  were  abso- 
lutely ignored.  In  1908  Austria  appropriated  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina,  another  blow  to  Italy.  By  this  time  Italy  understood 
the  situation  well,  and  that  same  year,  seeing  no  future  for  herself 
in  Europe,  she  swooped  down  on  Tripoli.  In  doing  this  she  fore- 
stalled Germany  herself,  for  Germany  had  determined  to  seize 
Tripoli. 

Both  Germany  and  Austria  were  opposed  to  this  action  of 
Italy,  but  Italy's  eyes  were  now  open.  Thirty  years  of  political 
alliance  had  created  no  sympathy  among  the  Italians  for  the 
Germans.  Moreover,  it  was  not  entirely  a  question  of  policy. 
The  lordly  arrogance  of  the  Prussians  caused  sharp  antagonism. 
The  Italians  were  lovers  of  liberty;  the  Germans  pledged  toward 
autocracy.  They  found  greater  sympathy  in  England  and  in 
France. 

"I  am  a  son  of  liberty,"  said  Cavour,  "to  her  I  owe  all  that 
I  am."  That,  too,  is  Italy's  motto.  When  the  war  broke  out 


290  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

popular  sympathy  in  Italy  was  therefore  strongly  in  favor  of  the 
Allies.  The  party  in  power,  the  Liberals,  adopted  the  policy  of 
neutrality  for  the  time  being,  but  thousands  of  Italians  volunteered 
for  the  French  and  British  service,  and  the  anti-German  feeling 
grew  greater  as  tune  went  on. 

Finally,  on  the  23d  of  May,  1915,  the  Italian  Government  with- 
drew its  ambassador  to  Austria  and  declared  war.  A  complete 
statement  of  the  negotiations  between  Italy  and  Austria-Hungary, 
which  led  to  this  declaration,  was  delivered  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  by  the  Italian  Ambassador  on  May  25th.  This 
statement,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract,  lucidly  pre- 
sented the  Italian  position: 

"The  Triple  Alliance  was  essentially  defensive,  and  designed 
solely  to  preserve  the  status  quo,  or  in  other  words  equilibrium, 
in  Europe.  That  these  were  its  only  objects  and  purposes  is 
established  by  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  treaty,  as  well  as  by  the 
intentions  clearly  described  and  set  forth  in  official  acts  of  the 
ministers  who  created  the  alliance  and  confirmed  and  renewed 
it  in  the  interests  of  peace,  which  always  has  inspired  Italian 
policy.  The  treaty,  as  long  as  its  intents  and  purposes  had  been 
loyally  interpreted  and  regarded,  and  as  long  as  it  had  not  been  used 
as  a  pretext  for  aggression  against  others,  greatly  contributed  to 
the  elimination  and  settlement  of  causes  of  conflict,  and  for  many 
years  assured  to  Europe  the  inestimable  benefits  of  peace.  But 
Austria-Hungary  severed  the  treaty  by  her  own  hands.  She 
rejected  the  response  of  Serbia  which  gave  to  her  all  the  satisfaction 
she  could  legitimately  claim.  She  refused  to  listen  to  the  con- 
ciliatory proposals  presented  by  Italy  in  conjunction  with  other 
powers  in  the  effort  to  spare  Europe  from  a  vast  conflict,  certain 
to  drench  the  Continent  with  blood  and  to  reduce  it  to  ruin  beyond 
the  conception  of  human  imagination,  and  finally  she  provoked 
that  conflict. 

"Article  first  of  the  treaty  embodied  the  usual  and  necessary 
obligation  of  such  pacts — the  pledge  to  exchange  views  upon  any 
fact  and  economic  questions  of  a  general  nature  that  might  arise 
pursuant  to  its  terms.  None  of  the  contracting  parties  had  the 
right  to  undertake  without  a  previous  agreement  any  step  the 
consequence  of  which  might  impose  a  duty  upon  the  other 
signatories  arising  under  the  alliance,  or  which  would  in  any  way 


ITALY  DECLARES  WAR  ON  AUSTRIA       291 

whatsoever  encroach  upon  their  vital  interests.  This  article  was 
violated  by  Austria-Hungary,  when  she  sent  to  Serbia  her  note 
dated  July  23,  1914,  an  action  taken  without  the  previous  assent 
of  Italy.  Thus,  Austria-Hungary  violated  beyond  doubt  one  of 
the  fundamental  provisions  of  the  treaty.  The  obligation  of 
Austria-Hungary  to  come  to  a  previous  understanding  with  Italy 
was  the  greater  because  her  obstinate  policy  against  Serbia  gave 
rise  to  a  situation  which  directly  tended  toward  the  provocation 
of  a  European  war. 

"As  far  back  as  the  beginning  of  July,  1914,  the  Italian  Gov- 
ernment, preoccupied  by  the  prevailing  feeling  in  Vienna,  caused 
to  be  laid  before  the  Austro-Hungarian  Government  a  number  of 
suggestions  advising  moderation,  and  warning  it  of  the  impending 
danger  of  a  European  outbreak.  The  course  adopted  by  Austria- 
Hungary  against  Serbia  constituted,  moreover,  a  direct  encroach- 
ment upon  the  general  interests  of  Italy  both  political  and  eco- 
nomical in  the  Balkan  peninsula.  Austria-Hungary  could  not 
for  a  moment  imagine  that  Italy  could  remain  indifferent  while 
Serbian  independence  was  being  trodden  upon.  On  a  number  of 
occasions  theretofore,  Italy  gave  Austria  to  understand,  in  friendly 
but  clear  J;erms,  that  the  independence  of  Serbia  was  considered  by 
Italy  as  essential  to  the  Balkan  equilibrium.  Austria-Hungary 
was  further  advised  that  Italy  could  never  permit  that  equilibrium 
to  be  disturbed  through  a  prejudice.  This  warning  had  been  con- 
veyed not  only  by  her  diplomats  hi  private  conversations  with 
responsible  Austro-Hungarian  officials,  but  was  proclaimed  pub- 
licly by  Italian  statesmen  on  the  floors  of  Parliament. 

"Therefore,  when  Austria-Hungary  ignored  the  usual  prac- 
tices and  menaced  Serbia  by  sending  her  an  ultimatum,  without  in 
any  way  notifying  the  Italian  Government  of  what  she  proposed 
to  do,  indeed  leaving  that  government  to  learn  of  her  action 
through  the  press,  rather  than  through  the  usual  channels  of 
diplomacy,  when  Austria-Hungary  took  this  unprecedented  course 
she  not  only  severed  her  alliance  with  Italy  but  committed  an  act 
inimical  to  Italy's  interests.  .  .  . 

"After  the  European  war  broke  out  Italy  sought  to  come  to 
an  understanding  with  Austria-Hungary  with  a  view  to  a  settle- 
ment satisfactory  to  both  parties  which  might  avert  existing  and 
future  trouble.  Her  efforts  were  in  vain,  notwithstanding  the 


292  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

efforts  of  Germany,  which  for  months  endeavored  to  induce  Austria- 
Hungary  to  comply  with  Italy's  suggestion  thereby  recognizing  the 
propriety  and  legitimacy  of  the  Italian  attitude.  Therefore  Italy 
found  herself  compelled  by  the  force  of  events  to  seek  other 
solutions. 

"Inasmuch  as  the  treaty  of  alliance  with  Austria-Hungary 
had  ceased  virtually  to  exist  and  served  only  to  prolong  a  state  of 
continual  friction  and  mutual  suspicion,  the  Italian  Ambas- 
sador at  Vienna  was  instructed  to  declare  to  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Government  that  the  Italian  Government  considered 
itself  free  from  the  ties  arising  out  of  the  treaty  of  the  Triple 
Alliance  hi  so  far  as  Austria-Hungary  was  concerned.  This  com- 
munication was  delivered  in  Vienna  on  May  4th. 

"Subsequently  to  this  declaration,  and  after  we  had  been 
obliged  to  take  steps  for  the  protection  of  our  interests,  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Government  submitted  new  concessions,  which,  how- 
ever, were  deemed  insufficient  and  by  no  means  met  our  minimum 
demands.  These  offers  could  not  be  considered  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. The  Italian  Government  taking  into  consideration 
what  has  been  stated  above,  and  supported  by  the  vote  of  Parlia- 
ment and  the  solemn  manifestation  of  the  country  came  to  the 
decision  that  any  further  delay  would  be  inadvisable.  Therefore, 
on  May  23d,  it  was  declared,  in  the  name  of  the  King,  to  the 
Austro-Hungarian  Ambassador  at  Rome  that,  beginning  the  fol- 
lowing day,  May  24th,  it  would  consider  itself  hi  a  state  of  war 
with  Austria-Hungary." 

It  was  a  closely  reasoned  argument  that  the  Italian  statesmen 
presented,  but  there  was  something  more  than  reasoned  argument 
hi  Italy's  course.  She  had  been  waiting  for  years  for  the  oppor- 
tunity to  bring  under  her  flag  the  men  of  her  own  race  still  held  in 
subjection  by  hated  Austria.  Now  was  the  tune  or  never.  Her 
people  had  become  roused.  Mobs  filled  the  streets.  Great  orators, 
even  the  great  poet,  D'Annunzio,  proclaimed  a  holy  war.  The 
ehiking  of  the  Lusitania  poured  oil  on  the  flames,  and  the  treat- 
ment of  Belgium  and  eastern  France  added  to  the  fury. 

Italian  statesmen,  even  if  they  had  so  desired,  could  not  have 
withstood  the  pressure.  It  was  a  crusade  for  Italia  Irredenta,  for 
civilization,  for  humanity.  The  country  had  been  flooded  by 
representatives  of  German  propaganda,  papers  had  been  hired 


ITALY  DECLARES  WAR  ON  AUSTRIA        293 

and,  by  all  report,  money  in  large  amounts  distributed.  But 
every  German  effort  was  swept  away  in  the  flood  of  feeling.  It 
was  the  people's  war. 

Amid  tremendous  enthusiasm  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
adopted  by  vote  of  407  to  74  the  bill  conferring  upon  the  govern- 
ment full  power  to  make  war.  All  members  of  the  Cabinet  main- 
tained absolute  silence  regarding  what  step  should  follow  the 
action  of  the  chamber.  When  the  chamber  reassembled  on  May 
20th,  after  its  long  recess,  there  were  present  482  Deputies  out  of 
'500,  the  absentees  remaining  away  on  account  of  illness.  The 
Deputies  especially  applauded  were  those  who  wore  military  uni- 
forms and  who  had  asked  permission  for  leave  from  their  military 
duties  to  be  present  at  the  sitting.  All  the  tribunes  were  filled  to 
overflowing.  No  representatives  of  Germany,  Austria  or  Turkey 
were  to  be  seen  in  the  diplomatic  tribune.  The  first  envoy  to 
arrive  was  Thomas  Nelson  Page,  the  American  Ambassador,  who 
was  accompanied  by  his  staff.  M.  Barrere,  Sir  J.  Bennell  Rodd, 
and  Michel  de  Giers,  the  French,  British  and  Russian  Ambassadors, 
respectively,  appeared  a  few  minutes  later  and  all  were  greeted 
with  applause,  which  was  shared  by  the  Belgian,  Greek  and  Rou- 
manian ministers.  George  B.  McClellan,  one-time  mayor  of 
New  York,  occupied  a  seat  hi  the  President's  tribune. 

A  few  minutes  before  the  session  began  the  poet,  Gabrielle 
D'Annunzio,  one  of  the  strongest  advocates  of  war,  appeared  in  the 
rear  of  the  public  tribune  which  was  so  crowded  that  it  seemed 
impossible  to  squeeze  in  anybody  else.  But  the  moment  the  people 
saw  him  they  lifted  him  shoulder  high  and  passed  him  over  their 
heads  to  the  first  row. 

The  entire  chamber,  and  all  those  occupying  the  other  trib- 
unes, rose  and  applauded  for  five  minutes,  crying  "Viva 
D'Annunzio!"  Later  thousands  sent  him  their  cards  and  in  return 
received  his  autograph  bearing  the  date  of  this  eventful  day. 
Senor  Marcora,  President  of  the  Chamber,  took  his  place  at 
three  o'clock.  All  the  members  of  the  House,  and  everybody  in 
the  galleries,  stood  up  to  acclaim  the  old  follower  of  Garibaldi. 
Premier  Salandra,  followed  by  all  the  members  of  the  Cabinet, 
entered  shortly  afterward.  It  was  a  solemn  moment.  Then  a 
delirium  of  cries  broke  out. 

"Viva   Salandra!"   roared   the   Deputies,    and   the   cheering 


294  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

lasted  for  a  long  time.  After  the  f ormalities  of  the  opening,  Premier 
Salandra,  deeply  moved  by  the  demonstration,  arose  and  said: 

"Gentlemen,  I  have  the  honor  to  present  to  you  a  bill  to  meet 
the  eventual  expenditures  of  a  national  war." 

The  announcement  was  greeted  by  further  prolonged  applause. 
The  Premier's  speech  was  continually  interrupted  by  enthusiasm, 
and  at  tunes  he  could  hardly  continue  on  account  of  the  wild 
cheering.  The  climax  was  reached  when  he  made  a  reference  to 
the  army  and  navy.  Then  the  cries  seemed  interminable,  and 
those  on  the  floor  of  the  House  and  in  the  galleries  turned  to  the 
military  tribune  from  which  the  officers  answered  by  waving  their 
hands  and  handkerchiefs. 

At  the  end  of  the  Premier's  speech  there  were  deafening 
vivas  for  the  King,  war  and  Italy.  Thirty-four  Socialists  refused  to 
join  the  cheers,  even  in  the  cry  "Viva  Italia!"  and  they  were 
hooted  and  hissed. 

The  action  of  the  Italian  Government  created  intense  feeling. 
A  newspaper  man  in  Vienna,  describing  the  Austrian  indignation, 
said: 

"The  exasperation  and  contempt  which  Italy's  treacherous 
surprise  attack  and  her  hypocritical  justification  aroused  here,  are 
quite  indescribable.  Neither  Serbia  nor  Russia,  despite  a  long 
and  costly  war,  is  hated.  Italy,  however,  or  rather  those  Italian 
would-be  politicians  and  business  men  who  offer  violence  to  the 
majority  of  peaceful  Italian  people,  are  unutterably  hated."  On 
the  other  hand  German  papers  spoke  with  much  more  modera- 
tion and  recognized  that  Italy  was  acting  in  an  entirely  natural 
manner. 

On  the  very  day  on  which  war  was  declared  active  operations 
were  begun.  Both  sides  had  been  making  elaborate  preparations. 
Austria  had  prepared  herself  by  building  strong  fortifications  in 
which  were  employed  the  latest  technical  improvements  in  defensive 
warfare.  Upon  the  Carso  and  around  Gorizia  the  Austrians  had 
placed  innumerable  batteries  of  powerful  guns  mounted  on  rails 
and  protected  by  armor  plates.  They  also  had  a  great  number  of 
medium  and  smaller  guns.  A  net  of  trenches  had  been  excavated 
and  constructed  hi  cement  all  along  the  edge  of  the  hills  which 
dominated  the  course  of  the  Isonzo  River. 

These   trenches,    occupying   a   position    nearly    impregnable 


ITALY  DECLARES  WAR  ON  AUSTRIA       297 

because  so  mountainous,  were  defended  by  every  modern  device. 
They  were  protected  with  numerous  machine  guns,  surrounded 
by  wire  entanglements  through  which  ran  a  strong  electric  current. 
These  lines  of  trenches  followed  without  interruption  from  the 
banks  of  the  Isonzo  to  the  summit  of  the  mountains  which  dom- 
inate it;  they  formed  a  kind  of  formidable  staircase  which  had 
to  be  conquered  step  by  step  with  enormous  sacrifice. 

During  this  same  period  General  Cadorna,  then  head  of  the 
Italian  army,  had  been  bringing  that  army  up  to  date,  working 
for  high  efficiency  and  piling  up  munitions. 

The  Army  of  Italy  was  a  formidable  one.  Every  man  in  Italy 
is  liable  to  military  service  for  a  period  of  nineteen  years  from  the 
age  of  twenty  to  thirty-nine. 

At  the  time  of  the  war  the  approximate  war  strength  of  the 
army  was  as  follows:  Officers,  41,692;  active  army  with  the  colors, 
289,910;  reserve,  638,979;  mobile  militia,  299,956;  territorial 
militia,  1,889,659;  total  strength,  3,159,836.  The  above  number  of 
total  men  available  included  upward  of  1,200,000  fully  trained 
soldiers,  with  perhaps  another  800,000  partially  trained  men,  the 
remaining  million  being  completely  untrained  men.  This  army 
was  splendidly  armed,  its  officers  well  educated,  and  the  men 
brave  and  disciplined. 

The  Italian  plan  of  campaign  apparently  consisted  first,  in 
neutralizing  the  Trentino  by  capturing  or  covering  the  defenses 
and  cutting  the  two  lines  of  communication  with  Austria  proper, 
the  railway  which  ran  south  from  Insbruck,  and  that  which  ran 
southwest  from  Vienna  and  joined  the  former  at  Fransensfets; 
and  second,  hi  a  movement  in  force  on  the  eastern  frontier,  with 
Trieste  captured  or  covered  on  the  right  flank  in  the  direction  of 
the  Austrian  fortress  at  Klagenfurt  and  Vienna. 

The  first  blow  was  struck  by  Austria  on  the  day  that  war 
was  declared.  On  that  day  bombs  were  dropped  on  Venice,  and 
five  other  Adriatic  ports  were  shelled  from  air,  and  some  from  sea. 
The  Italian  armies  invaded  Austria  on  the  east  with  great  rapidity, 
and  by  May  27th  a  part  of  the  Italian  forces  had  moved  across  the 
Isonzo  River  to  Monfalcone,  sixteen  miles  northwest  of  Trieste. 
Another  force  penetrated  further  to  the  north  in  the  Crown  land 
of  Gorizia,  and  Gradisca.  Reports  from  Italy  were  that  encounters 
with  the  enemy  had  thus  far  been  merely  outpost  skirmishes,  but 


298  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

had  allowed  Italy  to  occupy  advantageous  positions  on  Austrian 
territory.  By  June  1st,  the  Italians  had  occupied  the  greater  part 
of  the  west  bank  of  the  Isonzo,  with  little  opposition.  The  left 
wing  was  beyond  the  Isonzo,  at  Caporetto,  fighting  among  the 
boulders  of  Monte  Nero,  where  the  Austrian  artillery  had  strong 
positions.  Monfalcone  was  kept  under  constant  bombardment. 

A  general  Italian  advance  took  place  on  June  7th  across  the 
Isonzo  River  from  Caporetto  to  the  sea,  a  distance  of  about  forty 
miles.  Monfalcone  was  taken  by  the  Italians  on  June  the  10th, 
the  first  serious  blow  against  Trieste,  as  Monfalcone  was  a  railway 
junction,  and  its  electrical  works  operated  the  light  and  power  of 
Trieste. 

Next  day  the  center  made  a  great  blow  against  Gradisca  and 
Sagrado,  but  the  river  line  proved  too  strong.  The  only  success 
was  won  that  night  at  Plava,  north  of  Borrigia,  which  was  carried 
by  a  surprise  attack.  The  Isonzo  was  hi  flood,  and  presented  a 
serious  obstacle  to  the  onrush  of  the  Italians.  By  June  14th  the 
Italian  eastern  army  had  pushed  forward  along  the  gulf  of  Trieste 
toward  the  town  of  Nebrosina,  nine  miles  from  Trieste. 

Meanwhile,  the  Austrian  armies  were  being  constantly 
strengthened.  The  initial  weakness  of  the  Austrian  defensive  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  armies  normally  assigned  to  the  invaded 
region  had  been  sent  to  defend  the  Austrian  line  hi  Galicia  against 
the  Russians.  When  Italy  began  her  invasion  the  defenses  of  the 
country  were  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  hastily  mobilized  youths 
below  the  military  age  of  nineteen,  and  men  above  the  military  age 
of  forty-two.  From  now  on  Austrian  troops  began  to  arrive  from 
the  Galician  front,  some  of  these  representing  the  finest  fighting 
material  in  the  Austrian  ranks.  The  chance  of  an  easy  victory 
was  slipping  from  Italy's  hands.  The  Italian  advance  was 
checked. 

On  the  15th  of  June  the  Italians  carried  an  important  position 
on  Monte  Nero,  climbing  the  rocks  by  night  and  attacking  by 
dawn.  But  this  conquest  did  not  help  much.  No  guns  of  great 
caliber  could  be  carried  on  the  mountain,  and  Tolmino,  which  had 
been  heavily  fortified,  and  contained  a  garrison  of  some  thirty 
thousand  men,  was  entirely  safe.  The  following  week  there  were 
repeated  counter-attacks  at  Plava  and  on  Monte  Nero,  but  the 
Italians  held  what  they  had  won. 


ITALY  DECLARES  WAR  ON  AUSTRIA       299 


HEIGHTS  IN  FEET 
r  60O-- 
1-600 
I-30O-- 


AREA  OF  GENERAL  CADORNA'S  SUCCESSFUL  OPERATIONS  AGAINST  GORIZIA 

The  Isonzo  valley  forms  the  eastern  line  for  the  defense  of  Italy  and  its  possession 
was  essential  to  the  realization  of  Italian  ideals.  Gorizia,  its  main  strategic  position, 
first  fell  to  the  Italians  August  9,  1916. 


300  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  position  was  now  that  Cadorna's  left  wing  was  in  a  strong 
position,  but  could  not  do  much  against  Tolmino.  His  center  was 
facing  the  great  camp  of  Gorizia,  while  his  right  was  on  the  edge  of 
the  Carso,  and  had  advanced  as  far  as  Dueno,  on  the  Monfalcone- 
Trieste  Railroad.  The  army  was  in  position  to  make  an  attack 
upon  Gorizia.  On  the  2d  of  July  an  attack  on  a  broad  front  was 
aimed  directly  at  Gorizia.  The  left  was  to  swing  around  against 
the  defenses  of  Gorizia  to  the  north ;  the  center  was  directed  against 
the  Gorizia  bridge-head,  and  the  right  was  to  swing  around  to 
the  northeast  through  the  Doberdo  plateau.  If  it  succeeded  the 
Trieste  railway  would  be  cut  and  Gorizia  must  fall. 

Long  and  confused  fighting  followed.  The  center  and  the 
right  of  the  Italian  army  slowly  advanced  their  line,  taking  over 
one  thousand  prisoners.  For  days  there  was  continuous  bombard- 
ment and  counter-bombardment.  The  fighting  on  the  left  was 
terrific.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Plava  the  Italian  forces  found 
themselves  opposed  by  Hungarian  troops,  unaccustomed  to  moun- 
tain warfare,  who  at  first  fell  back.  Austrian  reserves  came  to 
then*  aid,  and  flung  back  three  times  the  Italian  charge. 

Three  new  Italian  brigades  were  brought  up,  and  King  Victor 
Emanuel  himself  came  to  encourage  his  troops.  The  final  assault 
carried  the  heights.  On  the  22d  of  July  the  Italian  right  cap- 
tured the  crest  of  San  Michele,  which  dominates  the  Doberdo 
plateau. 

Meanwhile  the  Austrian  armies  were  being  heavily  reinforced, 
and  General  Cadorna  found  himself  unable  to  make  progress. 
Much  ground  had  been  won  but  Gorizia  was  still  unredeemed. 
Many  important  vantage  points  were  hi  Italian  hands,  but  it  was 
difficult  to  advance.  The  result  of  the  three  months'  campaign 
was  a  stalemate.  In  the  high  mountains  to  the  north  Italy's  cam- 
paign was  a  war  of  defense.  To  undertake  her  offensive  on  the  Isonzo 
it  was  necessary  that  she  guard  her  flanks  and  rear.  The  Tyrolese 
battle-ground  contained  three  distinct  points  where  it  was  necessary 
to  operate;  the  Trentino  Salient,  the  passes  of  the  Dolomites,  and 
the  passes  of  the  Carnic  Alps. 

Early  hi  June  Italy  had  won  control  of  the  ridges  of  the  moun- 
tains in  the  two  latter  points,  but  the  problem  in  the  Trentino  was 
more  difficult.    It  was  necessary,  because  of  the  converging  valleys, 
to  push  her  front  well  inland.     On  the  Carnic  Alps  the  fighting 


ITALY  DECLARES  WAR  ON  AUSTRIA       301 

consisted  of  unimportant  skirmishes.  The  main  struggle  centered 
around  the  pass  of  Monte  Croce  Carnico. 

In  two  weeks  the  Alpini  had  seized  dominating  positions  to 
the  west  of  the  pass,  but  the  Austrians  clung  to  the  farther  slopes. 
A  great  deal  of  picturesque  fighting  went  on,  but  not  much  progress 
was  made.  Further  west  in  the  Dolomite  region  there  was  more 
fighting.  On  the  30th  of  May  Cartina  had  been  captured,  and  the 
Italians  moved  north  toward  the  Pusterthal  Railway.  Progress 
was  slow,  as  the  main  routes  to  the  railway  were  difficult. 

By  the  middle  of  August  they  were  only  a  few  miles  from  the 
railway,  but  all  the  routes  led  through  defiles,  and  the  neighboring 
heights  were  hi  the  possession  of  the  Austrians.  To  capture  these 
heights  was  a  most  difficult  feat,  which  the  Italians  performed  in 
the  most  brilliant  way;  but  even  after  they  had  passed  these  defiles 
success  was  not  yet  won.  Each  Italian  column  was  in  its 
own  groove,  with  no  lateral  communication.  The  Austrians  could 
mass  themselves  where  they  pleased.  As  a  result  the  Italian 
forces  were  compelled  to  halt. 

In  the  Trentino  campaign  the  Italians  soon  captured  the 
passes,  and  moved  against  Trente  and  Roverito.  These  towns 
were  heavily  fortified,  as  were  their  surrounding  heights.  The 
campaign  became  a  series  of  small  fights  on  mountain  peaks  and 
mountain  ridges.  Only  small  bodies  of  troops  could  maneuver, 
and  the  raising  of  guns  up  steep  precipices  was  extremely  difficult. 
The  Italians  slowly  succeeded  in  gaming  ground,  and  established  a 
chain  of  posts  around  the  heights  so  that  often  one  would  see  guns 
and  barbed  wire  intrenchments  at  a  height  of  more  than  ten 
thousand  feet  among  the  crevasses  of  the  glaciers.  The  Alpini 
performed  wonderful  feats  of  physical  endurance,  but  the  plains 
of  Lombardy  were  still  safe. 


CHAPTER  XX 
GLORIOUS  GALLIPOLI 

IF  EVER  the  true  mettle  and  temper  of  a  people  were  tried 
and  exemplified  in  the  crucible  of  battle,  that  battle  was 
the  naval  and  land  engagement  embracing  Gallipoli  and  the 

Dardanelles,  and  the  people  so  tested  the  British  race. 
Separated  in  point  of  time  but  united  in  its  general  plan,  the  engage- 
ments present  a  picture  of  heroism  founded  upon  strategic  mis- 
takes; of  such  perseverance  and  dogged  determination  against 
overwhelming  natural  and  artificial  odds  as  even  the  pages  of 
supreme  British  bravery  cannot  parallel.  The  immortal  charge  of 
the  Light  Brigade  was  of  a  piece  with  Gallipoli,  but  it  was  merely  a 
battle  fragment  and  its  glorious  record  was  written  in  blood  within 
the  scope  of  a  comparatively  few  inspired  minutes.  In  the  mine- 
strewn  Dardanelles  and  upon  the  sun-baked,  blood-drenched 
rocky  slopes  of  Gallipoli,  death  always  partnered  every  sailor  and 
soldier.  As  at  Balaklava,  virtually  everyone  knew  that  some  one 
had  blundered,  but  the  army  and  the  navy  as  one  man  fought  to  the 
bitter  end  to  make  the  best  of  a  bad  bargain,  to  tear  triumph  out 
of  impossibilities. 

France  co-operated  with  the  British  in  the  naval  engagement, 
but  the  greater  sacrifice,  the  supreme  charnel  house  of  the  war, 
the  British  race  reserved  for  itself.  There,  the  yeomanry  of  Eng- 
land, the  unsung  county  regiments  whose  sacrifices  and  achieve- 
ments have  been  neglected  in  England's  generous  desire  to  honor 
the  men  from  "down  under,"  the  Australians  and  New  Zealanders 
grouped  under  the  imperishable  title  of  the  Anzacs— there  the 
Scotch,  Welsh  and  Irish  knit  in  one  devoted  British  army  with  the 
great  fighters  from  the  self-governing  colonies  waged  a  battle  so 
hopeless  and  so  gallant  that  the  word  Gallipoli  shall  always  remind 
the  world  how  man  may  triumph  over  the  fear  of  death;  how,  with 
nothing  but  defeat  and  disaster  before  them,  men  may  go  to  their 
deaths  as  unconcernedly  as  in  other  days  they  go  to  their  nightly 
sleep. 

302 


GLORIOUS  GALLIPOLI  303 

On  November  5,  1914,  Great  Britain  declared  war  upon 
Turkey.  Hostilities,  however,  had  preceded  the  declaration.  On 
November  3d  the  combined  French  and  British  squadrons  had 
bombarded  the  entrance  forts.  This  was  merely  intended  to  draw 
the  fire  of  the  forts  and  make  an  estimate  of  their  power.  From 
that  tune  on  a  blockade  was  maintained,  and  on  the  13th  of  Decem- 
ber a  submarine,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Holbrook,  entered 
the  straits  and  torpedoed  the  Turkish  warship  Messoudieh,  which 
was  guarding  the  mine  fields. 

By  the  end  of  January  the  blockading  fleet,  through  constant 
reinforcement,  had  become  very  strong,  and  had  seized  the  Island 
of  Tenedos  and  taken  possession  of  Lemnos,  which  nominally 
belonged  to  Greece,  as  bases  for  naval  operations.  On  the  19th  of 
February  began  the  great  attack  upon  the  forts  at  the  entrance  to 
the  Dardanelles,  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  world  for 
nearly  a  year. 

The  expedition  against  the  Dardanelles  had  been  considered 
with  the  greatest  care,  and  approved  by  the  naval  authorities. 
That  their  judgment  was  correct,  however,  is  another  question. 
The  history  of  naval  warfare  seems  to  make  very  plain  that  a  ship, 
however  powerful,  is  at  a  tremendous  disadvantage  when  attacking 
forts  on  land.  The  badly  served  cannon  of  Alexandria  fell,  indeed, 
before  a  British  fleet,  but  Gallipoli  had  been  fortified  by  German 
engineers,  and  its  guns  were  the  Krupp  cannon.  The  British 
fleet  found  itself  opposed  by  unsurmountable  obstacles.  Looking 
backward  it  seems  possible,  that  if  at  the  very  start  Lord  Kitchener 
had  permitted  a  detachment  of  troops  to  accompany  the  fleet, 
success  might  have  been  attained,  but  without  the  army  the  navy 
was  powerless. 

The  Peninsula  of  Gallipoli  is  a  tongue  of  land  about  fifty  miles 
long,  varying  in  width  from  twelve  to  two  or  three  miles.  It  is  a 
mass  of  rocky  hills  so  steep  that  in  many  places  it  is  a  matter  of 
difficulty  to  reach  their  tops.  On  it  are  a  few  villages,  but  there 
are  no  decent  roads  and  little  cultivated  land.  On  the  southern 
shore  of  the  Dardanelles  conditions  are  nearly  the  same.  Here, 
the  entrance  is  a  flat  and  marshy  plain,  but  east  of  this  plain  are 
hills  three  thousand  feet  high.  The  high  ground  overhangs  the 
sea  passage  on  both  sides  and,  with  the  exception  of  narrow  bits  of 
beach  at  their  base,  presents  almost  no  opportunity  for  landing. 


304 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


MAP  OF  THE  GALLIPOLI  PENINSULA 
Showing  the  various  landing  places,  with  inset  of  the  Sari-Bair  Region. 


GLORIOUS  GALLIPOLI  305 

A  strong  current  continually  sifts  down  the  straits  from  the  Sea 
of  Marmora. 

Forts  are  placed  at  the  entrance  on  both  the  north  and  south 
side,  but  they  were  not  heavily  armed  and  were  merely  outposts. 
Fourteen  miles  from  the  mouth  the  straits  become  quite  narrow, 
making  a  sharp  turn  directly  north  and  then  resuming  their  original 
direction.  The  channel  thus  makes  a  sharp  double  bend.  At  the 
entrance  to  the  strait,  known  as  the  Narrows,  were  powerful  fort- 
resses, and  the  slopes  were  studded  with  batteries.  Along  both 
sides  of  the  channel  the  low  ground  was  lined  with  batteries. 
It  was  possible  to  attack  the  forts  at  fairly  long  range,  but  there 
was  no  room  to  bring  any  large  number  of  ships  into  action  at 
the  same  time. 

At  the  time  of  the  Gallipoli  adventure  there  were  probably 
nearly  half  a  million  of  men  available  for  a  defense  of  the  straits, 
men  well  armed  and  well  trained  under  German  leadership.  The 
first  step  was  comparatively  easy.  The  operations  against  the 
other  forts  began  at  8  A.  M.  on  Friday,  the  19th  of  February.  The 
ships  engaged  were  the  Inflexible,  the  Agamemnon,  the  Cornwallis, 
the  Vengeance  and  the  Triumph  from  the  British  fleet,  and  the 
Bouvet,  Suffren,  and  the  Gaulois  from  the  French,  all  under  the 
command  of  Vice-Admiral  Sackville  Garden.  The  French  squadron 
was  under  Rear-Admiral  Gueprette.  A  flotilla  of  destroyers  accom- 
panied the  fleet,  and  airplanes  were  sent  up  to  guide  the  fire  of  the 
battleships. 

At  first  the  fleet  was  arranged  in  a  semicircle  some  miles  out 
to  sea  from  the  entrance  to  the  strait.  It  afforded  an  inspiring 
spectacle  as  the  ships  came  along  and  took  up  position,  and  the 
picture  became  most  awe-inspiring  when  the  guns  began  to  boom. 
The  bombardment  at  first  was  slow.  Shells  from  the  various 
ships  screaming  through  the  air  at  the  rate  of  about  one  every 
two  minutes. 

The  Turkish  batteries,  however,  were  not  to  be  drawn,  and, 
seeing  this,  the  British  Admiral  sent  one  British  ship  and  one 
French  ship  close  in  shore  toward  the  Sedd-el-Bahr  forts.  As  they 
went  hi  they  sped  right  under  the  guns  of  the  shore  batteries,  which 
could  no  longer  resist  the  temptation  to  see  what  they  could  do. 
Puffs  of  white  smoke  dotted  the  landscape  on  the  far  shore,  and 
dull  booms  echoed  over  the  placid  water.  Around  the  ships 
a 


306  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

fountains  of  water  sprang  up  into  the  air.  The  enemy  had  been 
drawn,  but  his  marksmanship  was  obviously  very  bad.  Not  a 
single  shot  directed  against  the  ships  went  within  a  hundred  yards 

of  either. 

At  sundown,  on  account  of  the  failing  light,  Admiral  Garden 
withdrew  the  fleet.  On  account  of  the  bad  weather  the  attack 
was  not  renewed  until  February  25th.  It  appeared  that  the  outer 
forts  had  not  been  seriously  damaged  on  the  19th,  and  that  what 
injury  had  been  done  had  been  repaired.  In  an  hour  and  a  half 
the  Cape  Helles  fort  was  silenced.  The  Agamemnon  was  hit  by  a 
shell  fired  at  a  range  of  six  miles,  which  killed  three  men  and  wounded 
five.  Early  hi  the  afternoon  Sedd-el-Bahr.  was  attacked  at  close 
range,  but  not  silenced  till  after  5  P.  M.  At  this  tune  British  trawlers 
began  sweeping  the  entrance  for  mines,  and  during  the  next  day 
the  mine  field  was  cleared  for  a  distance  of  four  miles  up  the  straits. 

As  soon  as  this  clearance  was  made  the  Albion,  Vengeance  and 
Majestic  steamed  into  the  strait  and  attacked  Fort  Dardanos,  a 
fortification  some  distance  below  the  Narrows.  The  Turks  replied 
vigorously,  not  only  from  Dardanos  but  from  batteries  scattered 
along  the  shore.  Believing  that  the  Turks  had  abandoned  the 
forts  at  the  entrance,  landing  parties  of  marines  were  sent  to  shore. 
In  a  short  time,  however,  they  met  a  detachment  of  the  enemy  and 
were  compelled  to  retreat  to  their  boats.  The  outer  forts,  however, 
were  destroyed,  and  their  destruction  was  extremely  encouraging 
to  the  Allies. 

For  a  tune  a  series  of  minor  operations  was  carried  on,  meeting 
with  much  success.  Besides  attacks  on  forts  inside  of  the  strait, 
Smyrna  was  bombarded  on  March  the  5th,  and  on  March  the  6th 
the  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  Agamemnon  and  the  Ocean  bombarded 
the  forts  at  Chanak  on  the  Asiatic  side  of  the  Narrows,  from  a 
position  in  the  Gulf  of  Saros  on  the  outer  side  of  the  Gallipoli 
Peninsula.  To  all  of  these  attacks  the  Turks  replied  vigorously 
and  the  attacking  ships  were  repeatedly  struck,  but  with  no  loss  of 
life.  On  the  7th  of  March  Fort  Dardanos  was  silenced,  and  Fort 
Chanak  ceased  firing,  but,  as  it  turned  out,  only  temporarily 

Preparations  were  now  being  made  for  a  serious  effort  against 
the  Narrows.  The  date  of  the  attack  was  fixed  for  March  17th, 
weather  permitting.  On  the  16th  Admiral  Carden  was  stricken 
down  with  illness  and  was  invalided  by  medical  authority. 


GLORIOUS  GALLIPOLI  307 

Admiral  de  Roebeck,  second  in  command,  who  had  been  very  active 
in  the  operations,  was  appointed  to  succeed  him.  Admiral  de  Roe- 
beck  was  in  cordial  sympathy  with  the  purposes  of  the  expedition 
and  determined  to  attack  on  the  18th  of  March.  At  a  quarter  to 
eleven  that  morning,  the  Queen  Elizabeth,  Inflexible,  Agamemnon, 
Lord  Nelson,  the  Triumph  and  Prince  George  steamed  up  the 
straits  towards  the  Narrows,  and  bombarded  the  forts  of  Chanak. 
At  12.22  the  French  squadron,  consisting  of  the  Suffren,  Gaulois, 
Charlemagne,  and  Bouvet,  advanced  up  the  Dardanelles  to  aid  their 
English  associates. 

Under  the  combined  fire  of  the  two  squadrons  the  Turkish 
forts,  which  at  first  replied  strongly,  were  finally  silenced.  All  of 
the  ships,  however,  were  hit  several  tunes  during  this  part  of  the 
action.  A  third  squadron,  including  the  Vengeance,  Irresistible, 
Albion,  Ocean,  Swiftshore  and  Majestic,  then  advanced  to  relieve 
the  six  old  battleships  inside  the  strait. 

As  the  French  squadron,  which  had  engaged  the  forts  hi  a 
most  brilliant  fashion,  was  passing  out  the  Bouvet  was  blown  up  by 
a  drifting  mine  and  sank  hi  less  than  three  minutes,  carrying  with 
her  most  of  her  crew.  At  2.36  P.  M.  the  relief  battleships  renewed 
the  attack  on  the  forts,  which  again  opened  fire.  The  Turks  were 
now  sending  mines  down  with  the  current.  At  4.09  the  Irresistible 
quitted  the  line,  listing  heavily,  and  at  5.50  she  sank,  having  prob- 
ably struck  a  drifting  mine.  At  6.05  the  Ocean,  also  having  struck 
a  mine,  sank  in  deep  water.  Practically  the  whole  of  the  crews  were 
removed  safely.  The  Gaulois  was  damaged  by  gunfire;  the 
Inflexible  had  her  forward  control  position  hit  by  a  heavy  shell, 
which  killed  and  wounded  the  majority  of  the  men  and  officers  at 
that  station  and  set  her  on  fire.  At  sunset  the  forts  were  still  hi 
action,  and  during  the  twilight  the  Allied  fleet  slipped  out  of  the 
Dardanelles. 

Meantime,  an  expeditionary  force  was  being  gathered.  The 
largest  portion  of  this  force  came  from  Great  Britain,  but  France 
also  provided  a  considerable  number  from  her  marines  and  from 
her  Colonial  army.  Both  nations  avoided,  as  far  as  possible,  draw- 
ing upon  the  armies  destined  for  service  in  France. 

In  the  English  army  there  were  divisions  from  Australia  and 
New  Zealand  and  there  were  a  number  of  Indian  troops  and  Terri- 
torials. The  whole  force  was  put  under  the  command  of  General 


308  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Sir  Ian  Hamilton.  The  commander-in-chief  on  the  Turkish  side 
was  the  German  General  Liman  von  Sanders,  the  former  chief  of 
the  military  mission  at  Constantinople.  The  bulk  of  the  expedi- 
tionary force,  which  numbered  altogether  about  a  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  men,  were,  therefore,  men  whose  presence  in  the 
east  did  not  weaken  the  Allied  strength  in  the  west. 

The  great  difficulty  of  the  new  plan  was  that  it  was  impossible 
to  surprise  the  enemy.  The  whole  Gallipoli  Peninsula  was  so  small 
that  a  landing  at  any  point  would  be  promptly  observed,  and  the 
nature  of  the  ground  was  of  such  a  character  that  progress  from  any 
point  must  necessarily  be  slow.  The  problem  was  therefore  a 
simple  one. 

The  expeditionary  force  gathered  in  Egypt  during  the  first 
hah"  of  April,  and  about  the  middle  of  the  month  was  being  sent  to 
Lemnos.  Germany  was  well  aware  of  the  English  plans,  and  was 
doing  all  that  it  could  to  provide  a  defense. 

On  April  23d  the  movement  began,  and  about  five  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  the  first  of  the  transports  slowly  made  its  way  through 
the  maze  of  shipping  toward  the  entrance  of  Mudros  Bay. 

Immediately  the  patent  apathy,  which  had  gradually  over- 
whelmed everyone,  changed  to  the  utmost  enthusiasm,  and  as  the 
huge  liners  steamed  through  the  fleet,  then*  decks  yellow  with 
khaki,  the  crews  of  the  warships  cheered  them  on  to  victory  while 
the  bands  played  them  out  with  an  unending  variety  of  popular 
airs.  The  soldiers  in  the  transports  answered  this  last  salutation 
from  the  navy  with  deafening  cheers,  and  no  more  inspiring 
spectacle  has  ever  been  seen  than  this  great  expedition. 

The  whole  of  the  fleet  from  the  transports  had  been  divided 
up  into  five  divisions  and  there  were  three  main  landings.  The 
twenty-ninth  division  disembarked  off  the  point  of  the  Gallipoli 
Peninsula  near  Sedd-el-Bahr,  where  its  operations  were  covered 
both  from  the  gulf  of  Saros  and  from  the  Dardanelles  by  the  fire  of 
the  covering  warships.  The  Australian  and  New  Zealand  contin- 
gent disembarked  north  of  Gaba  Tepe.  Further  north  a  naval 
division  madea  d  emonstration. 

Awaiting  the  Australians  was  a  party  of  Turks  who  had  been 
intrenched  almost  on  the  shore  and  had  opened  up  a  terrible  fusillade. 
The  Australian  volunteers  rose,  as  a  man,  to  the  occasion.  They 
waited  neither  for  orders  nor  for  the  boats  to  reach  the  beach,  but 


GLORIOUS  GALLIPOLI  309 

springing  out  into  the  sea  they  went  in  to  the  shore,  and  forming 
some  sort  of  a  rough  line  rushed  straight  on  the  flashes  of  the 
enemy's  rifles.  In  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  Turks  were 
in  full  flight. 

While  the  Australians  and  New  Zealanders,  or  Anzacs  as  they 
are  now  generally  known  from  the  initials  of  the  words  Australian- 
New  Zealand  Army  Corps,  were  fighting  so  gallantly  at  Gaba  Tepe, 
the  British  troops  were  landing  at  the  southern  end  of  the  Gallipoli 
Peninsula.  The  advance  was  slow  and  difficult.  The  Turk  was 
pushed  back,  little  by  little,  and  the  ground  gained  organized. 
The  details  of  this  progress,  though  full  of  incidents  of  the  greatest 
courage  and  daring,  need  not  be  recounted. 

On  June  the  4th  a  general  attack  was  made,  preceded  by  heavy 
bombardments  by  all  guns,  but  after  terrific  fighting,  in  which  many 
prisoners  were  captured  and  great  losses  suffered,  the  net  result  was 
an  advance  of  about  five  hundred  yards.  As  time  went  on  the 
general  impression  throughout  the  Allied  countries  was  that  the 
expedition  had  failed.  On  June  30th  the  losses  of  the  Turks  were 
estimated  at  not  less  than  seventy  thousand,  and  the  British  naval 
and  military  losses  up  to  June  1st,  aggregated  38,635  officers  and 
men.  At  that  time  the  British  and  French  allies  held  but  a  small 
corner  of  the  area  to  be  conquered.  In  all  of  these  attacks  the 
part  played  by  the  Australian  and  New  Zealand  army  corps  was 
especially  notable.  Reinforcements  were  repeatedly  sent  to  the 
Allies,  who  worked  more  and  more  feverishly  as  time  went  on  with 
the  hope  of  aiding  Russia,  which  was  then  desperately  struggling 
against  the  great  German  advance. 

On  August  17th  it  was  reported  that  a  landing  had  been 
made  at  Suvla  Bay,  the  extreme  western  point  of  the  Peninsula. 
From  this  point  it  was  hoped  to  threaten  the  Turkish  communica- 
tion with  their  troops  at  the  lower  end  of  the  Peninsula.  This  new 
enterprise,  however,  failed  to  make  any  impression,  and  in  the 
first  part  of  September,  vigorous  Turkish  counter-offensives  gained 
territory  from  the  Franco-British  troops.  According  to  the  English 
reports  the  Turks  paid  a  terrible  price  for  their  success. 

It  had  now  become  evident  that  the  expedition  was  a  failure. 
The  Germans  were  already  gloating  over  what  they  called  the 
"failure  of  British  sea  power,"  and  English  publicists  were  attempt- 
ing to  show  that,  though  the  enterprise  had  failed,  the  very  presence 


310  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

of  a  strong  Allied  force  at  Saloniki  had  been  an  enormous  gain. 
The  first  official  announcement  of  failure  was  made  December 
20  1916  when  it  was  announced  that  the  British  forces  at  Anzac 
and  Suvla  Bay  had  been  withdrawn,  and  that  only  the  minor 
positions  near  Sedd-el-Bahr  were  occupied.  Great  Britain's  loss 
of  officers  and  men  at  the  Dardanelles  up  to  December  llth  was 
112,921,  according  to  an  announcement  made  in  the  House  of 
Commons  by  the  Parliamentary  Under  Secretary  for  War.  Besides 
these  casualties  the  number  of  sick  admitted  to  hospitals  was 
96,683.  The  decision  to  evacuate  Gallipoli  was  made  in  the  course 
of  November  by  the  British  Government  as  the  result  of  the  early 
expressed  opinion  of  General  Monro,  who  had  succeeded  General 
Hamilton  on  October  28,  1915. 

General  Monro  found  himself  confronted  with  a  serious  problem 
in  the  attempt  to  withdraw  an  army  of  such  a  size  from  positions  not 
more  than  three  hundred  yards  from  the  enemy's  trenches,  and 
to  embark  on  open  beaches  every  part  of  which  was  within  effective 
range  of  Turkish  guns.  Moreover,  the  evacuation  must  be  done 
gradually,  as  it  was  impossible  to  move  the  whole  army  at  once 
with  such  means  of  transportation  as  existed.  The  plan  was  to 
remove  the  munitions,  supplies  and  heavy  guns  by  instalments, 
working  only  at  night,  carrying  off  at  the  same  time  a  large  portion 
of  the  troops,  but  leaving  certain  picked  battalions  to  guard  the 
trenches.  Every  endeavor  had  to  be  made  for  concealment.  The 
plan  was  splendidly  successful,  and  the  Turks  apparently  com- 
pletely deceived.  On  December  20th  the  embarkation  of  the 
last  troops  at  Suvla  was  accomplished.  The  operations  at  Anzac 
were  conducted  hi  the  same  way.  Only  picked  battalions  were  left 
to  the  end,  and  these  were  carried  safely  off. 

The  success  of  the  Suvla  and  Anzac  evacuation  made  the 
position  at  Cape  Helles  more  dangerous.  The  Turks  were  on  the 
lookout,  and  it  seemed  almost  impossible  that  they  could  be  again 
deceived.  On  January  7th  an  attack  was  made  by  the  Turks  upon 
the  trenches,  which  was  beaten  back.  That  night  more  than  half 
the  troops  had  left  the  Peninsula.  The  next  day  there  was  a 
heavy  storm  which  made  embarkation  difficult,  but  it  was  never- 
theless accomplished.  The  whole  evacuation  was  a  clever  and 
successful  bit  of  work. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  GREATEST  NAVAL  BATTLE  IN  HISTORY 

GERMANY'S   ambition   for   conquest   at   sea   had   been 
nursed  and  carefully  fostered  for  twenty  years.     During 
the  decade  immediately  preceding  the  declaration  of 
war,  it  had  embarked  upon  a  policy  of  naval  upbuilding 
that  brought  it  into  direct  conflict  with  England's  sea  policy. 
Thereafter  it  became  a  race  in  naval  construction,  England  piling 
up  a  huge  debt  in  its  determination  to  construct  two  tons  of  naval 
shipping  to  every  one  ton  built  by  Germany. 

Notwithstanding  Great  Britain's  efforts  in  this  direction, 
Germany's  naval  experts,  with  the  ruthless  von  Tirpitz  at  then* 
head,  maintained  that,  given  a  fair  seaway  with  ideal  weather 
conditions  favoring  the  low  visibility  tactics  of  the  German  sea 
command,  a  victory  for  the  Teutonic  ships  would  follow.  It  was 
this  belief  that  drew  the  ships  of  the  German  cruiser  squadron  and 
High  Seas  Fleet  off  the  coast  of  Jutland  and  Horn  Reef  into  the 
great  battle  that  decided  the  supremacy  of  the  sea. 

The  31st  of  May,  1916,  will  go  down  in  history  as  the  date  of 
this  titanic  conflict.  The  British  light  cruiser  Galatea  on  patrol 
duty  near  Horn  Reef  reported  at  2.20  o'clock  on  the  afternoon 
of  that  day,  that  it  had  sighted  smoke  plumes  denoting  the  advance 
of  enemy  vessels  from  the  direction  of  Helgoland  Bight.  Fifteen 
minutes  later  the  smoke  plumes  were  in  such  number  and  volume 
that  the  advance  of  a  considerable  force  to  the  northward  and 
eastward  was  indicated.  It  was  reasoned  by  Vice-Admiral  Beatty, 
to  whom  the  Galatea  had  sent  the  news  by  radio,  that  the  enemy 
in  rounding  Horn  Reef  would  inevitably  be  brought  into  action. 
The  first  ships  of  the  enemy  were  sighted  at  3.31  o'clock.  These 
were  the  battle  screen  of  fast  light  cruisers.  Back  of  these  were 
five  modern  battle  cruisers  of  the  highest  power  and  armament. 

The  report  of  the  battle,  by  an  eye-witness,  that  was  issued 
upon  semiofficial  authority  of  the  British  Government,  follows: 

First  Phase,  3.30  P.  M.  May  31st.     Beatty's  battle  cruisers, 

311 


312  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

consisting  of  the  Lion,  Princess  Royal,  Queen  Mary,  Tiger,  Inflexible, 
Indomitable,  Invincible,  Indefatigable,  and  New  Zealand,  were  on 
a  southeasterly  course,  followed  at  about  two  miles  distance  by 
the  four  battleships  of  the  class  known  as  Queen  Elizabeths. 

Enemy  light  cruisers  were  sighted  and  shortly  afterward  the 
head  of  the  German  battle  cruiser  squadron,  consisting  of  the 
new  cruiser  Hindenburg,  the  Seydlitz,  Derfflinger,  Liitzow,  Moltke, 
and  possibly  the  Salamis. 

Beatty  at  once  began  firing  at  a  range  of  about  20,000  yards 
(twelve  miles)  which  shortened  to  16,000  yards  (nine  miles)  as  the 
fleets  closed.  The  Germans  could  see  the  British  distinctly  out- 
lined against  the  light  yellow  sky.  The  Germans,  covered  by  a 
haze,  could  be  very  indistinctly  made  out  by  the  British  gunners. 

The  Queen  Elizabeths  opened  fire  on  one  after  another  as  they 
came  within  range.  The  German  battle  cruisers  turned  to  port 
and  drew  away  to  about  20,000  yards. 

Second  Phase,  4.40  P.  M.  A  destroyer  screen  then  appeared 
beyond  the  German  battle  cruisers.  The  whole  German  High 
Seas  Fleet  could  be  seen  approaching  on  the  northeastern  horizon 
hi  three  divisions,  coming  to  the  support  of  their  battle  cruisers. 

The  German  battle  cruisers  now  turned  right  round  16  points 
and  took  station  hi  front  of  the  battleships  of  the  High  Fleet. 

Beatty,  with  his  battle  cruisers  and  supporting  battleships, 
therefore,  had  before  him  the  whole  of  the  German  battle  fleet,  and 
Jellicoe  was  still  some  distance  away. 

The  opposing  fleets  were  now  moving  parallel  to  one  another 
in  opposite  directions,  and  but  for  a  master  maneuver  on  the  part 
of  Beatty  the  British  advance  ships  would  have  been  cut  off  from 
Jellicoe's  Grand  Fleet.  In  order  to  avoid  this  and  at  the  same  time 
prepare  the  way  so  that  Jellicoe  might  envelop  his  adversary, 
Beatty  immediately  also  turned  right  around  16  points,  so  as  to 
bring  his  ships  parallel  to  the  German  battle  cruisers  and  facing  the 
same  direction. 

As  soon  as  he  was  around  he  increased  to  full  speed  to  get 
ahead  of  the  Germans  and  take  up  a  tactical  position  in  advance 
of  their  line.  He  was  able  to  do  this  owing  to  the  superior  speed  of 
the  British  battle  cruisers. 

Just  before  the  turning  point  was  reached  the  Indefatigable 
sank,  and  the  Queen  Mary  and  the  Invincible  also  were  lost  at  th« 


GREATEST  NAVAL  BATTLE  IN  HISTORY    315 

turning  point,  where,  of  course,  the  High  Seas  Fleet  concentrated 
their  fire. 

A  little  earlier,  as  the  German  battle  cruisers  were  turning, 
the  Queen  Elizabeths  had  in  similar  manner  concentrated  their 
fire  on  the  turning  point  and  destroyed  a  new  German  battle 
cruiser,  believed  to  be  the  Hindenburg. 

Beatty  had  now  got  around  and  headed  away  with  the  loss 
of  three  ships,  racing  parallel  to  the  German  battle  cruisers.  The 
Queen  Elizabeths  followed  behind  engaging  the  main  High  Seas 
Fleet. 

Third  Phase,  5  p.  M.  The  Queen  Elizabeths  now  turned  short 
to  port  16  points  in  order  to  follow  Beatty.  The  Warspite  jammed 
her  steering  gear,  failed  to  get  around,  and  drew  the  fire  of  six  of 
the  enemy,  who  closed  in  upon  her. 

The  Germans  claimed  her  as  a  loss,  since  on  paper  she  ought 
to  have  been  lost,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  though  repeatedly 
straddled  by  shell  fire  with  the  water  boiling  up  all  around  her, 
she  was  not  seriously  hit,  and  was  able  to  sink  one  of  her  oppo- 
nents. Her  captain  recovered  control  of  the  vessel,  brought  her 
around,  and  followed  her  consorts. 

In  the  meantime  the  Barham,  Valiant  and  Malaya  turned 
short  so  as  to  avoid  the  danger  spot  where  the  Queen  Mary  and 
the  Invincible  had  been  lost,  and  for  an  hour,  until  Jellicoe  arrived, 
fought  a  delaying  action  against  the  High  Seas  Fleet. 

The  Warspite  joined  them  at  about  5.15  o'clock,  and  all 
four  ships  were  so  successfully  maneuvered  in  order  to  upset  the 
spotting  corrections  of  their  opponents  that  no  hits  of  a  seriously 
disabling  character  were  suffered.  They  had  the  speed  over  their 
opponents  by  fully  four  knots,  and  were  able  to  draw  away  from 
part  of  the  long  line  of  German  battleships,  which  almost  filled 
up  the  horizon. 

At  this  tune  the  Queen  Elizabeths  were  steadily  firing  on  at 
the  flashes  of  German  guns  at  a  range  which  varied  between  12,000 
and  15,000  yards,  especially  against  those  ships  which  were  nearest 
them.  The  Germans  were  enveloped  in  a  mist  and  only  smoke 
and  flashes  were  visible. 

By  5.45  half  of  the  High  Seas  Fleet  had  been  left  out  of  range, 
and  the  Queen  Elizabeths  were  steaming  fast  to  join  hands  with 
Jellicoe. 


316  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

To  return  to  Beatty's  battle  cruisers.  They  had  succeeded 
in  outflanking  the  German  battle  cruisers,  which  were,  therefore, 
obliged  to  turn  a  full  right  angle  to  starboard  to  avoid  being  headed. 

Heavy  fighting  was  renewed  between  the  opposing  battle 
cruiser  squadrons,  during  which  the  Derfflinger  was  sunk;  but 
toward  6  o'clock  the  German  fire  slackened  very  considerably, 
showing  that  Beatty's  battle  cruisers  and  the  Queen  Elizabeths  had 
inflicted  serious  damage  on  then*  immediate  opponents. 

Fourth  Phase,  6  P.  M.  The  Grand  Fleet  was  now  in  sight, 
and,  coming  up  fast  in  three  directions,  the  Queen  Elizabeths 
altered  their  course  four  points  to  the  starboard  and  drew  in  toward 
the  enemy  to  allow  Jellicoe  room  to  deploy  into  line. 

The  Grand  Fleet  was  perfectly  maneuvered  and  the  very  diffi- 
cult operation  of  deploying  between  the  battle  cruisers  and  the 
Queen  Elizabeths  was  perfectly  timed. 

Jellicoe  came  up,  fell  in  behind  Beatty's  cruisers,  and  followed 
by  the  damaged  but  still  serviceable  Queen  Elizabeths,  steamed 
right  across  the  head  of  the  German  fleet. 

The  first  of  the  ships  to  come  into  action  were  the  Revenue 
and  the  Royal  Oak  with  then-  fifteen-inch  guns,  and  the  Agincourt, 
which  fired  from  her  seven  turrets  with  the  speed  almost  of  a 
Maxim  gun. 

The  whole  British  fleet  had  now  become  concentrated.  They 
had  been  perfectly  maneuvered,  so  as  to  "cross  theT"  of  the  High 
Seas  Fleet,  and,  indeed,  only  decent  light  was  necessary  to  com- 
plete their  work  of  destroying  the  Germans  in  detail.  The  light 
did  improve  for  a  few  minutes,  and  the  conditions  were  favorable 
to  the  British  fleet,  which  was  now  in  line  approximately  north 
and  south  across  the  head  of  the  Germans. 

During  the  few  minutes  of  good  light  Jellicoe  smashed  up  the 
three  German  ships,  but  the  mist  came  down,  visibility  sud- 
ienly  failed,  and  the  defeated  High  Seas  Fleet  was  able  to  draw  off 
in  ragged  divisions. 

Fifth  Phase,  Night.      The  Germans  were  followed  by  the 

*h,  who  still  had  them  enveloped  between  Jellicoe  on  the 

•eatty  on  the  north,  and  Evan  Thomas  with  his  three  Queen 

,hzabeths  on  the  south.     The  Warspite  had  been  sent  back  to 

her  base. 

During  the  night  the  torpedo  boat  destroyers  heavily  attacked 


GREATEST  NAVAL  BATTLE  IN  HISTORY      317 


BRITISH  BATTLE  FLEET 


term»n  Battle  CrMta/WcTV 

*  «• 


NORTH 


REFERENCE 

Approximate  Track  of  British  Battle  fleet 
••             •          British  &Jt£/e 
•  .          Cnemyi  5/1//M 


HOW  THE  GREAT  NAVAL  BATTLE  OF  JUTLAND  WAS  FOUGHT 
This  chart  must  be  taken  only  as  a  general  indication  of  the  courses  of  the  opposing 
fleets.  Sir  David  Beatty,  with  two  squadrons  of  battle  cruisers  and  one  squadron  of 
fast  battleships,  first  steamed  southward  and  southeastward  of  the  German  battle 
cruiser  squadron;  then,  sighting  the  German  battle  fleet,  turned  northward,  after- 
wards bearing  eastward  and  connecting  with  Sir  John  Jelh'coe's  battle  squadron. 


318  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  German  ships,  and,  although  they  lost  seriously  themselves, 
succeeded  in  sinking  two  of  the  enemy. 

Coordination  of  the  units  of  the  fleet  was  practically  impos- 
sible to  keep  up,  and  the  Germans  discovered  by  the  rays  of  their 
searchlights  the  three  Queen  Elizabeths,  not  more  than  4,000  yards 
away.  Unfortunately  they  were  then  able  to  escape  between  the 
battleships  and  Jellicoe,  since  the  British  gunners  were  not  able  to 
fire,  as  the  destroyers  were  in  the  way. 

So  ended  the  Jutland  battle,  which  was  fought  as  had  been 
planned  and  very  nearly  a  great  success.  It  was  spoiled  by  the 
unfavorable  weather  conditions,  especially  at  the  critical  moment, 
when  the  whole  British  fleet  was  concentrated  and  engaged  in 
crushing  the  head  of  the  German  line. 

Commenting  on  the  engagement,  Admiral  Jellicoe  said: 
"The  battle  cruiser  fleet,  gallantly  led  by  Vice-Admiral  Beatty, 
and  admirably  supported  by  the  ships  of  the  fifth  battle  squadron 
under  Rear  Admiral  Evan-Thomas,  fought  the  action  under,  at 
times,  disadvantageous  conditions,  especially  in  regard  to  light, 
in  a  manner  that  was  hi  keeping  with  the  best  traditions  of  the 
service." 

His  estimate  of  the  German  losses  was:  two  battleships  of 
the  dreadnaught  type,  one  of  the  Deutschland  type,  which  was 
seen  to  sink;  the  battle  cruiser  Liitzow,  admitted  by  the  Germans; 
one  battle  cruiser  of  the  dreadnaught  type,  one  battle  cruiser 
seen  to  be  so  severely  damaged  that  its  return  was  extremely 
doubtful;  five  light  cruisers,  seen  to  sink — one  of  them  possibly 
a  battleship;  six  destroyers  seen  to  sink,  three  destroyers  so 
damaged  that  it  was  doubtful  if  they  would  be  able  to  reach  port, 
and  a  submarine  sunk.  The  official  German  report  admitted  only 
eleven  ships  sunk;  the  first  British  report  placed  the  total  at 
eighteen,  but  Admiral  Jellicoe  enumerated  twenty-one  German 
vessels  as  probably  lost. 

The  Admiral  paid  a  fine  tribute  to  the  German  naval  men: 
"The  enemy,"  he  said,  "fought  with  the  gallantry  that  was  expected 
of  him.  We  particularly  admired  the  conduct  of  those  on  board  a 
disabled  German  light  cruiser  which  passed  down  the  British  line 
shortly  after  the  deployment  under  a  heavy  fire,  which  was  returned 
by  the  only  gun  left  in  action.  The  conduct  of  the  officers  and 
men  was  entirely  beyond  praise.  :.  On  all  sides  it  is  reported  that 


GREATEST  NAVAL  BATTLE  IN  HISTORY    319 

the  glorious  traditions  of  the  past  were  most  worthily  upheld; 
whether  hi  the  heavy  ships,  cruisers,  light  cruisers,  or  destroyers, 
the  same  admirable  spirit  prevailed.  The  officers  and  men  were 
cool  and  determined,  with  a  cheeriness  that  would  have  carried 
them  through  anything.  The  heroism  of  the  wounded  was  the 
admiration  of  all.  I  cannot  adequately  express  the  pride  with 
which  the  spirit  of  the  fleet  filled  me." 

At  daylight  on  the  1st  of  June  the  British  battle  fleet,  being 
southward  of  Horn  Reef,  turned  northward  in  search  of  the  enemy 
vessels.  The  visibility  early  on  the  first  of  June  was  three  to 
four  miles  less  than  on  May  31st,  and  the  torpedo-boat  destroyers, 
being  out  of  visual  touch,  did  not  rejoin  the  fleet  until  9  A.  M. 
The  British  fleet  remained  hi  the  proximity  of  the  battlefield  and 
near  the  line  of  approach  to  the  German  ports  until  11  A.  M.,  in 
spite  of  the  disadvantage  of  long  distances  from  fleet  bases  and  the 
danger  incurred  in  waters  adjacent  to  the  enemy's  coasts  from 
submarines  and  torpedo  craft. 

The  enemy,  however,  made  no  sign,  and  the  admiral  was 
reluctantly  compelled  to  the  conclusion  that  the  High  Sea  Fleet 
had  returned  into  port.  Subsequent  events  proved  this  assump- 
tion to  have  been  correct.  The  British  position  must  have  been 
known  to  the  enemy,  as  at  4  A.  M.  the  fleet  engaged  a  Zeppelin 
about  five  minutes,  during  which  time  she  had  ample  opportunty 
to  note  and  subsequently  report  the  position  and  course  of  the 
British  fleet. 

The  Germans  at  first  claimed  a  victory  for  their  fleet.  The 
test,  of  course,  was  the  outcome  of  the  battle.  The  fact  that  the 
German  fleet  retreated  and  nevermore  ventured  forth  from  beneath 
the  protecting  guns  and  mine  fields  around  Helgoland,  demon- 
strates beyond  dispute  that  the  British  were  entitled  to  the  triumph. 
The  German  official  report  makes  the  best  presentation  of  the 
German  case.  It  follows  in  full: 

The  High  Sea  Fleet,  consisting  of  three  battleship  squadrons,  five 
battle  cruisers,  and  a  large  number  of  small  cruisers,  with  several  destroyer 
flotillas,  was  cruising  in  theSkagerrak  on  May  31st  for  the  purpose,  as  on 
earlier  occasions,  of  offering  battle  to  the  British  fleet.  The  vanguard  of 
small  cruisers  at  4.30  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  (German  time)  suddenly 
encountered,  ninety  miles  west  of  Hanstholm  (a  cape  on  the  northwest 
coast  of  Jutland),  a  group  of  eight  of  the  newest  cruisers  of  the  Calliope 
class  and  fifteen  or  twenty  of  the  most  modern  destroyers. 


320  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD  WAR 

While  the  German  light  forces  and  the  first  cruiser  squadron  under 
Vice-Admiral  Hipper  were  following  the  British,  who  were  retiring  north- 
westward, the  German  battle  cruisers  sighted  to  the  westward  Vice- 
Admiral  Beatty's  battle  squadron  of  six  ships,  including  four  of  the  Lion 
type  and  two  of  the  Indefatigable  type.  Beatty's  squadron  developed  a 
battle  line  on  a  southeasterly  course  and  Vice- Admiral  Hipper  formed  his 
line  ahead  on  the  same  general  course  and  approached  for  a  running  fight. 
He  opened  fire  at  5.49  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  with  heavy  artillery  at  a 
range  of  13,000  meters  against  the  superior  enemy.  The  weather  was 
clear  and  light,  and  the  sea  was  light  with  a  northwest  wind. 

After  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  a  violent  explosion  occurred  on  the 
last  cruiser  of  the  Indefatigable  type.  It  was  caused  by  a  heavy  shell, 
and  destroyed  the  vessel. 

About  6.20  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  five  warships  of  the  Queen  Eliza- 
beth type  came  from  the  west  and  joined  the  British  battle  cruiser  line, 
powerfully  reinforcing  with  then*  fifteen-inch  guns  the  five  British  battle 
cruisers  remaining  after  6.20  o'clock.  To  equalize  this  superiority  Vice- 
Admiral  Hipper  ordered  the  destroyers  to  attack  the  enemy.  The  British 
destroyers  and  small  cruisers  interposed,  and  a  bitter  engagement  at  close 
range  ensued,  hi  the  course  of  which  a  light  cruiser  participated. 

The  Germans  lost  two  torpedo  boats,  the  crews  of  which  were  rescued 
by  sister  ships  under  a  heavy  fire.  Two  British  destroyers  were  sunk  by 
artillery,  and  two  others — the  Nestor  and  Nomad — remained  on  the 
scene  hi  a  crippled  condition.  These  later  were  destroyed  by  the  main 
fleet  after  German  torpedo  boats  had  rescued  all  the  survivors. 

While  this  engagement  was  in  progress  a  mighty  explosion,  caused 
by  a  big  shell,  broke  the  Queen  Mary,  the  third  ship  in  line,  asunder, 
at  6.30  o'clock. 

Soon  thereafter  the  German  main  battleship  fleet  was  sighted  to  the 
southward,  steering  north.  The  hostile  fast  squadrons  thereupon  turned 
northward,  closing  the  first  part  of  the  fight,  which  lasted  about  an  hour. 

The  British  retired  at  high  speed  before  the  German  fleet,  which 
followed  closely.  The  German  battle  cruisers  continued  the  artillery 
combat  with  increasing  intensity,  particularly  with  the  division  of  the 
vessels  of  the  Queen  Elizabeth  type,  and  in  this  the  leading  German  battle- 
ship division  participated  intermittently.  The  hostile  ships  showed  a 
desire  to  run  hi  a  flat  curve  ahead  of  the  point  of  our  line  and  to  cross  it. 

At  7.45  o'clock  in  the  evening  British  small  cruisers  and  destroyers 
launched  an  attack  against  our  battle  cruisers,  who  avoided  the  tor- 
pedoes by  maneuvering,  while  the  British  battle  cruisers  retired  from  the 
engagement,  in  which  they  did  not  participate  further  as  far  as  can  be 
stablished.  Shortly  thereafter  a  German  reconnoitering  group,  which 
was  parrying  the  destroyer  attack,  received  an  attack  from  the  north- 
east. The  cruiser  Wiesbaden  was  soon  put  out  of  action  in  this  attack. 
Ine  German  torpedo  flotillas  immediately  attacked  the  heavy  ships. 

Appearing  shadow-like  from  the  haze  bank  to  the  northeast  was 


GREATEST  NAVAL  BATTLE  IN   HISTORY    321 

made  out  a  long  line  of  at  least  twenty-five  battle  ships,  which  at  first 
sought  a  junction  with  the  British  battle  cruisers  and  those  of  the  Queen 
Elizabeth  type  on  a  northwesterly  to  westerly  course,  and  then  turned 
on  an  easterly  to  southeasterly  course. 

With  the  advent  of  the  British  main  fleet,  whose  center  consisted  of 
three  squadrons  of  eight  battleships  each,  with  a  fast  division  of  three 
battle  cruisers  of  the  Invincible  type  on  the  northern  end,  and  three  of 
the  newest  vessels  of  the  Royal  Sovereign  class,  armed  with  fifteen-inch 
guns,  at  the  southern  end,  there  began  about  8  o'clock  in  the  evening  the 
third  section  of  the  engagement,  embracing  the  combat  between  the  main 
fleets. 

Vice-Admiral  Scheer  determined  to  attack  the  British  main  fleet, 
which  he  now  recognized  was  completely  assembled  and  about  doubly 
superior.  The  German  battleship  squadron,  headed  by  battle  cruisers, 
steered  first  toward  the  extensive  haze  bank  to  the  northeast,  where  the 
crippled  cruiser  Wiesbaden  was  still  receiving  a  heavy  fire.  Around  the 
Wiesbaden  stubborn  individual  fights  now  occurred. 

The  light  enemy  forces,  supported  by  an  armored  cruiser  squadron  of 
five  ships  of  the  Minatour,  Achilles,  and  Duke  of  Edinburgh  classes  com- 
ing from  the  northeast,  were  encountered  and  apparently  surprised  on 
account  of  the  decreasing  visibility  of  our  battle  cruisers  and  leading 
battleship  division.  The  squadron  came  under  a  violent  and  heavy 
fire,  by  which  the  small  cruisers  Defense  and  Black  Prince  were  sunk. 
The  cruiser  Warrior  regained  its  own  line  a  wreck  and  later  sank.  Another 
small  cruiser  was  damaged  severely. 

Two  destroyers  already  had  fallen  victims  to  the  attack  of  German 
torpedo  boats  against  the  leading  British  battleships  and  a  small  cruiser 
and  two  destroyers  were  damaged.  The  German  battle  cruisers  and 
leading  battleship  division  had  in  these  engagements  come  under  increased 
fire  of  the  enemy's  battleship  squadron,  which,  shortly  after  8  o'clock, 
could  be  made  out  in  the  haze  turning  to  the  northeastward  and  finally 
to  the  east.  Germans  observed,  amid  the  artillery  combat  and  shelling 
of  great  intensity,  signs  of  the  effect  of  good  shooting  between  8.20  and 
8.30  o'clock  particularly.  [  Several  officers  on  German  ships  observed 
that  a  battleship  of  the  Queen  Elizabeth  class  blew  up  under  conditions 
similar  to  that  of  the  Queen  Mary.  The  Invincible  sank  after  being  hit 
severely.  A  ship  of  the  Iron  Duke  class  had  earlier  received  a  torpedo 
hit,  and  one  of  the  Queen  Elizabeth  class  was  running  around  in  a  circle, 
its  steering  apparatus  apparently  having  been  hit. 

The  Lutzow  was  hit  by  at  least  fifteen  heavy  shells  and  was  unable 
to  maintain  its  place  in  line.  Vice-Admiral  Hipper,  therefore,  trans- 
shipped to  the  Moltke  on  a  torpedo  boat  and  under  a  heavy  fire.  The 
DerfHinger  meantime  took  the  lead  temporarily.  Parts  of  the  German 
torpedo  flotilla  attacked  the  enemy's  main  fleet  and  heard  detonations. 
In  the  action  the  Germans  lost  a  torpedo  boat.  An  enemy  destroyer 
was  seen  in  a  sinking  condition,  having  been  hit  by  a  torpedo. 


322  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

After  the  first  violent  onslaught  into  the  mass  of  the  superior  enemy 
the  opponents  lost  sight  of  each  other  in  the  smoke  by  powder  clouds. 
After  a  short  cessation  in  the  artillery  combat  Vice  Admiral  Scheer  ordered 
a  new  attack  by  all  the  available  forces. 

German  battle  cruisers,  which  with  several  light  cruisers  and  torpedo 
boats  again  headed  the  line,  encountered  the  enemy  soon  after  9  o'clock 
and  renewed  the  heavy  fire,  which  was  answered  by  them  from  the  mist, 
and  then  by  the  leading  division  of  the  main  fleet.  Armored  cruisers  now 
flung  themselves  in  a  reckless  onset  at  extreme  speed  against  the  enemy 
line  in  order  to  cover  the  attack  of  the  torpedo  boats.  They  approached 
the  enemy  line,  although  covered  with  shot  from  6,000  meters  distances. 
Several  German  torpedo  flotillas  dashed  forward  to  attack,  delivered 
torpedoes,  and  returned,  despite  the  most  severe  counterfire,  with  the 
loss  of  only  one  boat.  The  bitter  artillery  fight  was  again  interrupted, 
after  this  second  violent  onslaught,  by  the  smoke  from  guns  and  funnels. 

Several  torpedo  flotillas,  which  were  ordered  to  attack  somewhat 
later,  found,  after  penetrating  the  smoke  cloud,  that  the  enemy  fleet  was 
no  longer  before  them;  nor,  when  the  fleet  commander  again  brought 
the  German  squadrons  upon  the  southerly  and  southwesterly  course 
where  the  enemy  was  last  seen,  could  our  opponents  be  found.  Only 
once  more — shortly  before  10.30  o'clock — did  the  battle  flare  up.  For  a 
short  time  in  the  late  twilight  German  battle  cruisers  sighted  four  enemy 
capital  ships  to  seaward  and  opened  fire  immediately.  As  the  two  Ger- 
man battleship  squadrons  attacked,  the  enemy  turned  and  vanished  in 
the  darkness.  Older  German  light  cruisers  of  the  fourth  reconnoissance 
group  also  were  engaged  with  the  older  enemy  armored  cruisers  in  a 
short  fight.  This  ended  the  day  battle. 

The  German  divisions,  which,  after  losing  sight  of  the  enemy,  began 
a  night  cruise  in  a  southerly  direction,  were  attacked  until  dawn  by  enemy 
light  force  in  rapid  succession. 

The  attacks  were  favored  by  the  general  strategic  situation  and  the 
particularly  dark  night. 

The  cruiser  Frauenlob  was  injured  severely  during  the  engagement 
of  the  fourth  reconnoissance  group  with  a  superior  cruiser  force,  and  was 
lost  from  sight. 

One  armored  cruiser  of  the  Cressy  class  suddenly  appeared  close  to  a 
German  battleship  and  was  shot  into  fire  after  forty  seconds,  and  sank  in 
four  minutes. 

The  Florent  (?)  Destroyer  60,  (the  names  were  hard  to  decipher  in 
the  darkness  and  therefore  were  uncertainly  established)  and  four  destroyers 
—3,  78,  06,  and  27— were  destroyed  by  our  fire.  One  destroyer 
was  cut  in  two  by  the  ram  of  a  German  battleship.  Seven  destroyers, 
including  the  G-30,  were  hit  and  severely  damaged.  These,  including  the 
Tipperary  and  Turbulent,  which  after  saving  survivors,  were  left  behind 
in  a  sinking  condition,  drifted  past  our  line,  some  of  them  burning  at  the 
bow  or  stem. 


GREATEST  NAVAL  BATTLE   IN  HISTORY    323 

The  tracks  of  countless  torpedoes  were  sighted  by  the  German  ships, 
but  only  the  Pommern  (a  battleship)  fell  an  immediate  victim  to  a  torpedo. 
The  cruiser  Rostock  was  hit,  but  remained  afloat.  The  cruiser  Elbing 
was  damaged  by  a  German  battleship  during  an  unavoidable  maneuver. 
After  vain  endeavors  to  keep  the  ship  afloat  the  Elbing  was  blown  up, 
but  only  after  her  crew  had  embarked  on  torpedo  boats.  A  post  torpedo 
boat  was  struck  by  a  mine  laid  by  the  enemy. 

Following  are  the  statistics  of  the  fight: 

ADMITTED  LOSSES— BRITISH 

NAME  TONNAGE   PERSONNEL 

Queen  Mary  (Jbattle  cruiser) 27,000  1,000 

Indefatigable  (battle  cruiser) 18,750  800 

Invincible  (battle  cruiser) 17,250  750 

Defense  (armored  cruiser) 14,600  755 

Warrior  (armored  cruiser) 13,550  704 

Black  Prince  (armored  cruiser) 13,550  704 

Tipperary  (destroyer) 1,850  150 

Turbulent  (destroyer) 1,850  150 

Shark  (destroyer) 950  100 

Sparrowhawk  (destroyer) 950  100 

Ardent  (destroyer) 950  100 

Fortune  (destroyer) 950  100 

Nomad  (destroyer) 950  100 

Nestor  (destroyer) 950  100 

BRITISH  TOTALS 

Battle  cruisers 63,000  2,560 

Armored  cruisers 41,700  2,163 

Destroyers 9,400  900 


Fourteen  ships 114,100       5,613 

ADMITTED  LOSSES— GERMAN* 

NAME  TONNAGE   PERSONNEL 

Ltitzow  (battle  cruiser) 26,600       1,200 

Pommern  (battleship) 13,200 

Wiesbaden  (cruiser) 5,600          450 

Frauenlob  (cruiser) 2,715 

Elbing  (cruiser) 5,000 

Rostock  (cruiser) 4,900 

Fire  destroyers 5,000 

GERMAN  TOTALS 

Battle  cruisers 39,800       1,929 

Cruisers 18.215       1,537 

Destroyers 5,000 

Eleven  ships 63,015       3,966 

'These  firures  are  given  for  what  they  are  worth,  but  no  one  outside  of  Germany  doubted  but  thmt 
their  losses  were  very  much  greater  than  admitted  m  the  official  report. 


324  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

TOTAL  LOSSES  OF  MEN 
BRITISH 

Dead  or  missing 6»10 

Wounded 513 

Total 6>617 

GERMAN 

Dead  or  missing 2,41^ 

Wounded 449 

Total 2,863 

LOSS  IN  MONEY  VALUE 
(Rough  Estimate) 

British $115,000,000 

German 63,000,000 


Total $178,000,000 

While  the  world  was  still  puzzling  over  the  conflicting  reports 
of  the  battle  of  Jutland  came  the  shocking  news  that  Field  Marshal 
Lord  Horatio  Herbert  Kitchener,  the  British  Secretary  of  State 
for  War,  had  perished  off  the  West  Orkney  Islands  on  June  5th, 
through  the  sinking  of  the  British  cruiser  Hampshire.  The  entire 
crew  was  also  lost,  except  twelve  men,  a  warrant  officer  and  eleven 
seamen,  who  escaped  on  a  raft.  Earl  Kitchener  was  on  his  way  to 
Russia,  at  the  request  of  the  Russian  Government,  for  a  consulta- 
tion regarding  munitions  to  be  furnished  the  Russian  army.  He 
was  intending  to  go  to  Archangel  and  visit  Petrograd,  and  expected 
to  be  back  in  London  by  June  20th.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Hugh  James  O'Beirne,  former  Councillor  of  the  British  Embassy 
at  Petrograd,  O.  A.  Fitz-Gerald,  his  military  secretary,  Brigadier- 
General  Ellarshaw,  and  Sir  Frederick  Donaldson,  all  of  whom 
were  lost. 

The  cause  of  the  sinking  of  the  Hampshire  is  not  known. 
It  is  supposed  that  it  struck  a  mine,  but  the  tragedy  very  naturally 
brought  into  existence  many  stories  which  ascribe  his  death  to 
more  direct  German  action. 

Seaman  Rogerson,  one  of  the  survivors,  describes  Lord 
Kitchener's  last  moments  as  follows:  "Of  those  who  left  the  ship, 
and  have  survived,  I  was  the  one  who  saw  Lord  Kitchener  last. 
He  went  down  with  the  ship,  he  did  not  leave  her.  I  saw  Captain 
Seville  help  his  boat's  crew  to  clear  away  his  galley.  At  the  same 
time  the  Captain  was  calling  to  Lord  Kitchener  to  come  to  the 


GREATEST   NAVAL  BATTLE   IN  HISTORY    325 

boat,  but  owing  to  the  noise  made  by  the  wind  and  sea,  Lord 
Kitchener  could  not  hear  him,  I  think.  When  the  explosion 
occurred,  Kitchener  walked  calmly  from  the  captain's  cabin, 
went  up  the  ladder  and  on  to  the  quarter-deck.  There  I  saw  him 
walking  quite  collectedly,  talking  to  two  of  the  officers.  All  three 
were  wearing  khaki  and  had  no  overcoats  on.  Kitchener  calmly 
watched  the  preparations  for  abandoning  the  ship,  which  were 
going  on  in  a  steady  and  orderly  way.  The  crew  just  went  to  their 
stations,  obeyed  orders,  and  did  their  best  to  get  out  the  boats. 


WHERE  EARL  KITCHENER  MET  His  DEATH 

But  it  was  impossible.  Owing  to  the  rough  weather,  no  boats 
could  be  lowered.  Those  that  were  got  out  were  smashed  up  at 
once.  No  boats  left  the  ship.  What  people  on  the  shore  thought 
to  be  boats  leaving,  were  rafts.  Men  did  get  into  the  boats  as 
these  lay  in  their  cradles,  thinking  that  as  the  ship  went  under  the 
boats  would  float,  but  the  ship  sank  by  the  head,  and  when  she 
went  she  turned  a  somersault  forward,  carrying  down  with  her  all 
the  boats  and  those  in  them.  I  do  not  think  Kitchener  got  into 
a  boat.  When  I  sprang  to  a  raft  he  was  still  on  the  starboard  i 
of  the  quarter-deck,  talking  with  the  officers.  From  the  little  time 


326  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

that  elapsed  between  my  leaving  the  ship  and  her  sinking  I  feel 
certain  Kitchener  went  down  with  her,  and  was  on  deck  at  the 
time  she  sank." 

The  British  admiralty,  after  investigation,  gave  out  a  state- 
ment declaring  that  the  vessel  struck  a  mine,  and  sank  about 
fifteen  minutes  after. 

The  news  of  Lord  Kitchener's  death  shocked  the  whole  Allied 
world.  He  was  the  most  important  personality  in  the  British 
Empire.  He  had  built  up  the  British  army,  and  his  name  was 
one  to  conjure  by.  His  efficiency  was  a  proverb,  and  he  had  an 
air  of  mystery  about  him  that  made  him  a  sort  of  a  popular  hero. 
He  was  great  before  the  World  War  began;  he  was  the  conqueror 
of  the  Soudan;  the  winner  of  the  South  African  campaign;  the 
reorganizer  of  Egypt.  In  his  work  as  Secretary  of  War  he  had 
met  with  some  criticism,  but  he  possessed,  more  than  any  other 
man,  the  public  confidence.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  he  was 
appointed  Secretary  of  War  at  the  demand  of  an  overwhelming 
public  opinion.  He  realized  more  than  any  one  else  what  such  a 
war  would  mean.  When  others  thought  of  it  as  an  adventure 
to  be  soon  concluded,  he  recognized  that  there  would  be  years  of 
bitter  conflict.  He  asked  England  to  give  up  its  cherished  tradi- 
tion of  a  volunteer  army;  to  go  through  arduous  military  training; 
he  saw  the  danger  to  the  empire,  and  he  alone,  perhaps,  had  the 
authority  to  inspire  his  countrymen  with  the  will  to  sacrifice.  But 
his  work  was  done.  The  great  British  army  was  in  the  field. 


CHAPTER    XXII 
THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

IN  THE  very  beginning  Russia  had  marked  out  one  point  for 
attack.  This  was  the  city  of  Cracow.  No  doubt  the  Grand 
Duke  Nicholas  had  not  hoped  to  be  able  to  invest  that  city 

early.  The  slowness  of  the  mobilization  of  the  Russian  army 
made  a  certain  prudence  advisable  at  the  beginning  of  the  cam- 
paign. But  the  great  success  of  his  armies  in  Lemberg  encouraged 
more  daring  aims.  He  had  invested  Przemysl,  and  Galicia  lay 
before  him.  Accordingly,  he  set  his  face  toward  Cracow. 

Cracow,  from  a  military  point  of  view,  is  the  gate  both  of 
Vienna  and  Berlin.  A  hundred  miles  west  of  it  is  the  famous  gap 
of  Moravia,  between  the  Carpathian  and  the  Bohemian  mountains, 
which  leads  down  into  Austria.  Through  this  gap  runs  the  great 
railway  connecting  Silesia  with  Vienna,  and  the  Grand  Duke 
knew  that  if  he  could  capture  Cracow  he  would  have  an  easy  road 
before  him  to  the  Austrian  capital.  Cracow  also  is  the  key  of 
Germany. 

Seventy  miles  from  the  city  lies  the  Oder  River.  An  army 
might  enter  Germany  by  this  gate  and  turn  the  line  of  Germany's 
frontier  fortresses.  The  Oder  had  been  well  fortified,  but  an  invader 
coming  from  Cracow  might  move  upon  the  western  bank.  The 
Russian  plan  no  doubt  was  to  threaten  both  enemy  capitals. 
Moreover,  an  advance  of  Russia  from  Cracow  would  take  its 
armies  into  Silesia,  full  of  coal  and  iron  mines,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  manufacturing  districts  in  the  German  Empire.  This 
would  be  a  real  success,  and  all  Germany  would  feel  the  blow. 

Another  reason  for  the  Russian  advance  in  Galicia  was  her 
desire  to  control  the  Galician  oil  wells.  To  Germany  petrol  had 
become  one  of  the  foremost  munitions  of  war.  Since  she  could  not 
obtain  it  from  either  America  or  Russia  she  must  get  it  from 
Austria,  and  the  Austrian  oil  fields  were  all  in  Galicia.  This,  in 
itself,  would  explain  the  Galician  campaign.  Moreover,  through 
the  Carpathian  Mountains  it  was  possible  to  make  frequent  raids 

327 


328  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

into  Hungary,  and  Russia  understood  well  the  feeling  of  Hungary 
toward  her  German  allies.  She  hoped  that  when  Hungary  perceived 
her  regiments  sacrificed  and  her  plains  overrun  by  Russian  troops, 
she  would  regret  that  she  had  allowed  herself  to  be  sacrificed  to 
Prussian  ambition.  The  Russians,  therefore,  suddenly  moved 
toward  Cracow. 

Then  von  Hindenburg  came  to  the  rescue.  The  supreme  com- 
mand of  the  Austrian  forces  was  given  to  him.  The  defenses  of 
Cracow  were  strengthened  under  the  direction  of  the  Germans,  and 
a  German  army  advanced  from  the  Posen  frontier  toward  the 
northern  bank  of  the  Vistula.  The  advance  threatened  the 
Russian  right,  and,  accordingly,  within  ten  days'  march  of  Cracow, 
the  Russians  stopped.  The  German  offensive  in  Poland  had  begun. 
The  news  of  the  German  advance  came  about  the  fifth  of  October. 
Von  Hindenburg,  who  had  been  fighting  in  East  Prussia,  had  at  last 
perceived  that  nothing  could  be'  gained  there.  The  vulnerable  part 
of  Russia  was  the  city  of  Warsaw.  This  was  the  capital  of  Poland, 
with  a  population  of  about  three-quarters  of  a  million.  If  he  could 
take  Warsaw,  he  would  not  only  have  pleasant  quarters  for  the 
winter  but  Russia  would  be  so  badly  injured  that  no  further 
offensive  from  her  need  be  anticipated  for  a  long  period.  Von 
Hindenbufg  had  with  him  a  large  army.  In  his  center  he  probably 
had  three-quarters  of  a  million  men,  and  on  his  right  the  Austrian 
army  hi  Cracow,  which  must  have  reached  a  million. 

Counting  the  troops  operating  in  East  Prussia  and  along  the 
Carpathians,  and  the  garrison  of  Przemysl,  the  Teuton  army  must 
have  had  two  and  a  half  million  soldiers.  Russia,  on  the  other 
hand,  at  this  tune  could  not  have  had  as  many  as  two  million  men 
in  the  whole  nine  hundred  miles  of  her  battle  front. 

The  fight  for  Warsaw  began  Friday,  October  16,  and  continued 
for  three  days,  von  Hindenburg  being  personally  in  command. 
On  Monday  the  Germans  found  themselves  in  trouble.  A  Rus- 
sian attack  on  their  left  wing  had  come  with  crushing  force.  Von 
Hindenburg  found  his  left  wing  thrown  back,  and  the  whole  Ger- 
man movement  thrown  into  disorder.  Meanwhile  an  attempt  to 
cross  the  Vistula  at  Josefov  had  also  been  a  failure.  The  Rus- 
sians allowed  the  Germans  to  pass  with  slight  resistance,  waited 
until  they  arrived  at  the  village  Kazimirjev,  a  district  of  low  hills 
and  swampy  flats,  and  then  suddenly  overwhelmed  them. 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  329 

Next  day  the  Russians  crossed  the  river  themselves,  and 
advanced  along  the  whole  line,  driving  the  enemy  before  them, 
through  great  woods  of  spruce  out  into  the  plains  on  the  west. 
This  forest  region  was  well  known  to  the  Russian  guides,  and  the 
Germans  suffered  much  as  the  Russians  had  suffered  in  East 
Prussia.  Ruzsky,  the  Russian  commander,  pursued  persistently; 
the  Germans  retreating  first  to  Kielce,  whence  they  were  driven,  on 
the  3d  of  November,  with  great  losses,  and  then  being  broken  into 
two  pieces,  with  the  north  retiring  westward  and  the  south  wing 
southwest  toward  Cracow. 

Rennenkampf  s  attack  on  the  German  left  wing  was  equally 
successful,  and  von  Hindenburg  was  driven  into  full  retreat. 
The  only  success  won  during  this  campaign  was  that  in  the  far 
south  where  Austrian  troops  were  sweeping  eastward  toward  the 
San.  This  army  drove  back  the  Russians  under  Ivanov,  reoccupied 
Jaroslav  and  relieved  Przemysl.  This  was  a  welcome  relief  to 
Przemysl,  for  the  garrison  was  nearly  starved,  and  it  was  well  for 
the  garrison  that  the  relief  came,  for  in  a  few  days  the  Russians 
returned,  recaptured  Jaroslav  and  reinvested  Przemysl.  As  von 
Hindenburg  retreated  he  left  complete  destruction  in  his  wake, 
roads,  bridges,  railroad  tracks,  water  towers,  railway  stations,  all 
were  destroyed;  even  telegraph  posts,  broken  or  sawn  through,  and 
insulators  broken  to  bits. 

It  was  now  the  turn  of  Russia  to  make  a  premature  advance, 
and  to  pay  for  it.  Doubtless  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  whose 
strategy  up  to  this  point  had  been  so  admirable,  knew  very  well 
the  danger  of  a  new  advance  in  Galicia,  but  he  realized  the  immense 
political  as  well  as  military  advantages  which  were  to  be  obtained 
by  the  capture  of  Cracow.  He  therefore  attempted  to  move  an 
army  through  Poland  as  well  as  through  Galicia,  hoping  that  the 
army  in  Poland  would  keep  von-  Hindenburg  busy,  while  the 
Galician  army  would  deal  with  Cracow. 

The  advance  was  slow  on  account  of  the  damaged  Polish  roads. 
It  was  preceded  by  a  cavalry  screen  which  moved  with  more  speed. 
On  November  10th,  the  vanguard  crossed  the  Posen  frontier  and 
cut  the  railway  on  the  Cracow-Posen  line.  This  reconnaissance 
convinced  the  Russian  general  that  the  German  army  did  not 
propose  to  make  a  general  stand,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  if  he 
struck  strongly  with  his  center  along  the  Warta,  he  might  destroy 


330  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  left  flank  of  the  German  southern  army,  while  his  own  left 
flank  was  assaulting  Cracow.  He  believed  that  even  if  his  attack 
upon  the  Warta  failed,  the  Russian  center  could  at  any  rate  pre- 
vent the  enemy  from  interfering  with  the  attack  further  south 
upon  Cracow. 

The  movement  therefore  began,  and  by  November  12th,  the 
Russian  cavalry  had  taken  Miechow  on  the  German  frontier, 
about  twenty  miles  north  of  Cracow.  Its  main  forces  were  still 
eighty  miles  to  the  east.  About  this  tune  Grand  Duke  Nicholas 
perceived  that  von  Hindenburg  was  preparing  a  counter-stroke. 
He  had  retreated  north,  and  then,  by  means  of  his  railways,  was 
gathering  a  large  army  at  Thorn.  Large  reinforcements  were 
sent  him,  some  from  the  western  front,  giving  him  a  total  of  about 
eight  hundred  thousand  men.  In  his  retreat  from  Warsaw,  while 
he  had  destroyed  all  roads  and  railways  hi  the  south  and  west, 
he  had  carefully  preserved  those  of  the  north  already  planning  to 
use  them  in  another  movement.  He  now  was  beginning  an  advance, 
once  again,  against  Warsaw.  On  account  of  the  roads  he  per- 
ceived that  it  would  be  difficult  for  the  Russians  to  obtain  rein- 
forcements. Von  Hindenburg  had  with  him  as  Chief  of  Staff 
General  von  Ludendorff,  one  of  the  cleverest  staff  officers  in  the 
German  army,  and  General  von  Mackensen,  a  commander  of 
almost  equal  repute. 

The  Russian  army  hi  the  north  had  been  pretty  well  scattered. 
The  Russian  forces  were  now  holding  a  front  of  nearly  a  thousand 
miles,  with  about  two  million  men.  The  Russian  right  center, 
which  now  protected  Warsaw  from  the  new  attack  could  hardly 
number  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  men.  Von  Hinden- 
burg's  ami  was  Warsaw  only,  and  did  not  affect  directly  the  Russian 
advance  to  Cracow,  which  was  still  going  on.  Indeed,  by  the  end 
of  the  first  week  in  December,  General  Dmitrieff  had  cavalry  hi 
the  suburbs  of  Cracow,  and  his  main  force  was  on  the  line  of  the 
River  Rava  about  twelve  miles  away.  Cracow  had  been  strongly 
fortified,  and  much  entrenching  had  been  done  in  a  wide  circle 
around  the  city. 

The  German  plan  was  to  use  its  field  army  hi  Cracow's  defense 
rather  than  a  garrison.  Two  separate  forces  were  used;  one  mov- 
ing southwest  of  Cracow  along  the  Carpathian  hills,  struck  directly 
at  Ivanov's  left;  the  other,  operating  from  Hungary,  threatened 


©  Press  Illustrating  Service. 

THE  FAMOUS   WITHERED  ARM 

A  most  unusual  photograph  of  the  ex-Kaiser  showing  his  withered  left  arm. 
The  sale  of  this  picture  was  forbidden  in  Germany.  The  other  figure  is  the  Het- 
man  of  the  Ukrainia,  Skoropadski. 


THE  FIRST  STAGE  HOMEWARDS 

Stretcher  bearers  bringing  in  wounded  from  the  battlefield  to  the 
collecting  posts. 


GERMAN  FRIGHTFOLNESS  FROM  THE  AIR 

•ttack  on  the  eastern  front  photographed  by  »  RqBsian  ainna® 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  333 

the  Russian  rear.  These  two  divisions  struck  at  the  same  time 
and  the  Russians  found  it  necessary  to  fight  rear  actions  as  they 
moved  forward.  They  were  doing  this  with  reasonable  success 
and  working  then-  way  toward  Cracow,  when,  on  the  12th  of 
December,  the  Austrian  forces  working  from  Hungary  carried  the 
Dukla  Pass.  This  meant  that  the  Austrians  would  be  able  to  pour 
troops  down  into  the  rear  of  the  Russian  advance,  and  the  Russian 
army  would  be  cut  off.  Dmitrieff,  therefore,  fell  rapidly  back, 
until  the  opening  of  the  Dukla  Pass  was  in  front  of  his  line,  and 
the  Russian  army  was  once  more  safe. 

Meanwhile  the  renewed  siege  of  Przemysl  was  going  on  with 
great  vigor,  and  attracting  the  general  attention  of  the  Allied 
world.  The  Austrians  attempted  to  follow  up  their  successes  at 
the  Dukla  Pass  by  attempting  to  seize  the  Lupkow  Pass,  and  the 
Uzzok  Pass,  still  further  to  the  east,  but  the  Russians  were  tired 
of  retreating.  New  troops  had  arrived,  and  about  the  20th  xof 
December  a  new  advance  was  begun. 

With  the  right  of  the  army  swinging  up  along  the  river  Nida, 
northeast  of  Cracow,  the  Russian  left  attacked  the  Dukla  Pass 
hi  great  force,  driving  Austrians  back  and  capturing  over  ten 
thousand  men.  On  Christmas  Day  all  three  great  western  passes 
were  in  Russian  hands.  The  Austrian  fighting,  during  this  period, 
was  the  best  they  had  so  far  shown,  the  brunt  of  it  being  upon  the 
Hungarian  troops,  who,  at  this  tune,  were  saving  Germany. 

Meantime  von  Hindenburg  was  pursuing  his  movement  in 
the  direction  of  Warsaw.  The  Russian  generals  found  it  difficult 
to  obtain  information.  Each  day  came  the  chronicle  of  contests, 
some  victories,  some  defeats,  and  it  soon  appeared  that  a  strong 
force  was  crushing  hi  the  Russian  outposts  from  the  direction  of 
Thorn  and  moving  toward  Warsaw.  Ruzsky  found  himself  faced 
by  a  superior  German  force,  and  was  compelled  to  retreat.  The 
Russian  aim  was  to  fall  back  behind  the  river  Bzura,  which  lies 
between  the  Thorn  and  Warsaw.  Bzura  is  a  strong  line  of  defense, 
with  many  fords  but  no  bridges.  The  Russian  right  wing  passed 
by  the  city  of  Lowicz,  moved  southwest  to  Strykov  and  then  on 
past  Lodz.  West  of  Lowicz  is  a  great  belt  of  marshes  impossible 
for  the  movement  of  armies. 

The  first  German  objective  was  the  city  of  Lodz.  Von  Hinden- 
burg knew  that  he  must  move  quickly  before  the  Russians  should 


334  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

get  up  reserves.  His  campaign  of  destruction  had  made  it  impos- 
sible for  aid  to  be  sent  to  the  Russian  armies  from  Ivanov,  far  in 
the  south,  but  every  moment  counted.  His  right  pushed  forward 
and  won  the  western  crossings  of  the  marshes.  His  extreme  left 
moved  towards  Plock,  but  the  main  effort  was  against  Piontek, 
where  there  is  a  famous  causeway  engineered  for  heavy  transport 
through  the  marshes. 

At  first  the  Russians  repelled  the  attack  on  the  causeway, 
but  on  November  19th  the  Russians  broke  and  were  compelled 
to  fall  back.  Over  the  causeway,  then,  the  German  troops  were 
rushed  in  great  numbers,  splitting  the  Russian  army  into  two  parts; 
one  on  the  south  surrounding  Lodz,  and  the  other  running  east 
of  Brezin  on  to  the  Vistula.  The  Russian  army  around  Lodz 
was  assailed  on  the  front  flank  and  rear.  It  looked  like  an  over- 
whelming defeat  for  the  Russian  army.  At  the  very  last  moment 
possible,  Russian  reinforcements  appeared — a  body  of  Siberians 
from  the  direction  of  Warsaw.  They  were  thrown  at  once  into 
the  battle  and  succeeded  hi  re-establishing  the  Russian  line.  This 
left  about  ninety  thousand  Germans  almost  entirely  surrounded, 
as  if  they  were  in  a  huge  sack.  Ruzsky  tried  his  best  to  close  the 
mouth  of  the  sack,  but  he  was  unsuccessful.  The  fighting  was 
terrific,  but  by  the  26th  the  Germans  in  the  sack  had  escaped. 

The  Germans  were  continually  receiving  reinforcements  and 
still  largely  outnumbered  the  Russians.  Von  Hindenburg  there- 
fore determined  on  a  new  assault.  The  German  left  wing  was  now 
far  in  front  of  the  Russian  city  of  Lodz,  one  of  the  most  important 
of  the  Polish  cities.  The  population  was  about  half  a  million. 
Such  a  place  was  a  constant  danger,  for  it  was  the  foundation  of  a 
Russian  salient.  When  the  German  movement  began  the  Russian 
general,  perceiving  how  difficult  it  would  have  been  to  hold  the 
city,  deliberately  withdrew,  and  on  December  6th  the  Germans 
entered  Lodz  without  opposition. 

The  retreat  relieved  the  Russians  of  a  great  embarrassment, 
ts  capture  was  considered  hi  Germany  as  a  great  German  victory, 
and  at  this  tune  von  Hindenburg  seems  to  have  felt  that  he  had 
control  of  the  situation.    His  movement,  to  be  sure,  had  not  inter- 
with  the  Russian  advance  on  Cracow,  but  Warsaw  must 
seemed  to  him  almost  in  his  power.     He  therefore  concen- 
trated his  forces  for  a  blow  at  Warsaw.     His  first  new  movement 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  335 

was  directed  at  the  Russian  right  wing,  which  was  then  north 
of  the  Bzura  River  and  east  of  Lowicz.  He  also  directed  the 
German  forces  in  East  Prussia  to  advance  and  attempted  to  cut 
the  main  railway  line  between  Warsaw  and  Petrograd.  If  this 
attempt  had  been  successful  it  would  have  been  a  highly  serious 
matter  for  the  Russians.  The  Russians,  however,  defeated  it, 
and  drove  the  enemy  back  to  the  East  Prussian  border.  The 
movement  against  the  Russian  right  wing  was  more  successful, 
and  the  Russians  fell  back  slowly.  This  was  not  because  they 
were  defeated  in  battle,  but  because  the  difficult  weather  inter- 
fered with  communications.  There  had  been  a  thaw,  and  the  whole 
country  was  waterlogged.  The  Grand  Duke  was  willing  that  the 
Germans  should  fight  in  the  mud. 

This  slow  retreat  continued  from  the  7th  of  December  to 
Christmas  Eve,  and  involved  the  surrender  of  a  number  of  Polish 
towns,  but  it  left  the  Russians  in  a  strong  position.  They  were 
able  to  entrench  themselves  so  that  every  attack  of  the  enemy 
was  broken.  The  Germans  tried  hard.  Von  Hindenburg  would 
have  liked  to  enter  Warsaw  on  Christmas.  The  citizens  heard 
day  and  night  the  sound  of  the  cannon,  but  they  were  entirely 
safe. 

The  German  attack  was  a  failure.  On  the  whole,  the  Grand 
Duke  Nicholas  had  shown  better  strategy  than  the  best  of  the 
German  generals.  Outnumbered  from  the  very  start,  his  tactics 
had  been  admirable.  Twice  he  had  saved  Warsaw,  and  he  was 
still  threatening  Cracow.  The  Russian  armies  were  fighting  with 
courage  and  efficiency,  and  were  continually  growing  in  numbers 
as  the  days  went  by. 

During  the  first  weeks  of  1915,  while  there  were  a  number  of 
attacks  and  counter-attacks,  both  armies  had  come  to  the  trench 
warfare,  so  familiar  in  France.  The  Germans  hi  particular  had 
constructed  a  most  elaborate  trench  system,  with  underground 
rooms  containing  many  of  the  ordinary  comforts  of  life.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  month  the  Russians  began  to  move  in  East  Prussia 
in  the  north  and  also  far  south  hi  the  Bukovina.  The  object  of 
these  movements  was  probably  to  prevent  von  Hindenburg  from 
releasing  forces  on  the  west.  Russia  was  still  terribly  weak  hi 
equipment  and  was  not  ready  for  a  serious  advance.  An  attack 
on  sacred  East  Prussia  would  stir  up  the  Germans,  while  Hungary 


336  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

would  be  likewise  disturbed  by  the  advance  on  Bukovina.  Von 
Hindenburg,  however,  was  still  full  of  the  idea  of  capturing  Warsaw. 
He  had  failed  twice  but  the  old  Field  Marshal  was  stubborn  and 
moreover  he  knew  well  what  the  capture  of  Warsaw  would  mean 
to  Russia,  and  so  he  tried  again. 

The  Russian  front  now  followed  the  west  bank  of  the  Bzura 
for  a  few  miles,  changed  to  the  eastern  bank  following  the  river 
until  it  met  with  the  Rawka,  from  there  a  line  of  trenches  passed 
south  and  east  of  Balinov  and  from  there  to  Skiernievice.  Von 
Mackensen  concentrated  a  considerable  army  at  Balinov  and  had 
on  the  1st  of  February  about  a  hundred  and  forty  thousand  men 
there.  That  night,  with  the  usual  artillery  preparation,  he  moved 
from  Balinov  against  the  Russian  position  at  the  Borzymov  Crest. 
The  Germans  lost  heavily  but  drove  forward  into  the  enemy's 
line,  and  by  the  3d  of  February  had  almost  made  a  breach  in  it. 
This  point,  however,  could  be  readily  reinforced  and  troops  were 
hurried  there  from  Warsaw  hi  such  force  that  on  February  4th 
the  German  advance  was  checked.  Von  Mackensen  had  lost 
heavily,  and  by  the  tune  it  was  checked  he  had  become  so  weak 
that  his  forces  yielded  quickly  to  the  counter-attack  and  were 
flung  back. 

This  was  the  last  frontal  attack  upon  Warsaw.  Von  Hinden- 
burg then  determined  to  attack  Warsaw  by  indirection.  Austria 
was  instructed  to  move  forward  along  the  whole  Carpathian  front, 
while  he  himself,  with  strong  forces,  undertook  to  move  from  East 
Prussia  behind  the  Polish  capital,  and  cut  the  communications 
between  Warsaw  and  Petrograd.  If  Austria  could  succeed, 
Przemysl  might  be  relieved,  Lemberg  recaptured,  and  Russia 
forced  back  so  far  on  the  south  that  Warsaw  would  have  to  be 
abandoned.  On  the  other  hand  if  the  East  Prussia  effort  were 
successful,  the  Polish  capital  would  certainly  fall.  These  plans, 
if  they  had  developed  successfully,  would  have  crippled  the  power 
of  Russia  for  at  least  six  months.  Meantime,  troops  could  be  sent 
to  the  west  front,  and  perhaps  enable  Germany  to  overwhelm 
France.  By  this  time  almost  all  of  Poland  west  of  the  Vistula 
was  in  the  power  of  the  Germans,  while  three-fourths  of  Galicia 
was  controlled  by  Russia. 

Von  Hindenburg  now  returned  to  his  old  battle-ground  near 
the  Masurian  Lakes.  The  Russian  forces,  which,  at  the  end  of 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  337 

January,  had  made  a  forward  movement  in  East  Prussia,  had  been 
quite  successful.  Their  right  was  close  upon  Tilsit,  and  their  left 
rested  upon  the  town  of  Johannisburg.  Further  south  was  the 
Russian  army  of  the  Narev.  Von  Hindenburg  determined  to 
surprise  the  invaders,  and  he  gathered  an  army  of  about  three 
hundred  thousand  men  to  face  the  Russian  forces  which  did  not 
number  more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand,  and  which 
were  under  the  command  of  General  Baron  Sievers.  The  Russian 
army  soon  found  itself  in  a  desperate  position.  A  series  of  bitter 
fights  ensued,  at  some  of  which  the  Kaiser  himself  was  present. 
The  Russians  were  driven  steadily  back  for  a  week,  but  the  German 
stories  of  their  tremendous  losses  are  obviously  unfounded.  They 
retreated  steadily  until  February  20th,  fighting  courageously,  and 
by  that  date  the  Germans  began  to  find  themselves  exhausted. 

Russian  reinforcements  came  up,  and  a  counter-attack  was 
begun.  The  German  aim  had  evidently  been  to  reach  Grodno 
and  cut  the  main  line  from  Warsaw  to  Petrograd,  which  passes 
through  that  city.  They  had  now  reached  Suwalki,  a  little  north 
of  Grodno,  but  were  unable  to  advance  further,  though  the  Warsaw- 
Petrograd  railway  was  barely  ten  miles  away.  The  southern  por- 
tion of  von  Hindenburg's  army  was  moving  against  the  railway 
further  west,  in  the  direction  of  Ossowietz.  But  Ossowietz  put 
up  a  determined  resistance,  and  the  attack  was  unsuccessful. 
By  the  beginning  of  March,  von  Hindenburg  ordered  a  gradual 
retreat  to  the  East  Prussian  frontier. 

While  this  movement  to  drive  the  Russians  from  East  Prussia 
was  under  way,  von  Hindenburg  had  also  launched  an  attack 
against  the  Russian  army  on  the  Narev.  If  he  could  force  the 
lower  Narev  from  that  point,  too,  he  could  cut  the  railroad  running 
east  from  the  Polish  capital.  He  had  hoped  that  the  attacks  just 
described  further  east  would  distract  the  Russian  attention  so  that 
he  would  find  the  Narev  ill  guarded.  The  advance  began  on 
February  22d,  and  after  numerous  battles  captured  Przasnysz, 
and  found  itself  with  only  one  division  to  oppose  its  progress  to  the 
railroad.  On  the  23d  this  force  was  attacked  by  the  German  right, 
but  resisted  with  the  utmost  courage.  It  held  out  for  more  than 
thirty-six  hours,  until,  on  the  evening  of  the  24th,  Russian  reinforce- 
ments began  to  come  up,  and  drove  the  invaders  north  through 
Przasnysz  in  retreat. 


338  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

It  was  an  extraordinary  fight.  The  Russians  were  unable 
to  supply  all  their  troops  with  munitions  and  arms.  At  Przasnysz 
men  fought  without  rules,  armed  only  with  a  bayonet.  All  they 
could  do  was  to  charge  with  cold  steel,  and  they  did  it  so  desperately 
that,  though  they  were  outnumbered/  they  drove  the  Germans 
before  them.  By  all  the  laws  of  war  the  Russians  should  have  been 
defeated  with  ease.  As  it  was,  the  German  attempt  to  capture 
Warsaw  by  a  flank  movement  was  defeated.  While  the  struggle 
was  going  on  hi  the  north,  the  Austrian  armies  hi  Galicia  were  also 
moving.  Russia  was  still  holding  the  three  great  passes  in  the 
Carpathian  Mountains,  but  had  not  been  able  to  begin  an  offensive 
in  Hungary. 

The  Austrians  had  been  largely  reinforced  by  German  troops, 
and  were  moving  forward  to  the  relief  of  Przemysl,  and  also  to 
drive  Brussilov  from  the  Galician  mountains.  Brussilov's  move- 
ments had  been  partly  military  and  partly  political.  From  the 
passes  in  those  mountains  Hungary  could  be  attacked,  and  unless 
he  could  be  driven  away  there  was  no  security  for  the  Hungarian 
cornfields,  to  which  Germany  was  looking  for  food  supplies.  More- 
over, from  the  beginning  of  the  Russian  movement  in  Galicia, 
northern  Bukovina  had  been  in  Russian  hands.  Bukovina  was 
not  only  a  great  supply  ground  for  petrol  and  grain,  but  she  adjoined 
Roumania  which,  while  still  neutral,  had  a  strong  sympathy  with 
the  Allies,  especially  Italy.  The  presence  of  a  Russian  army  on 
her  border  might  encourage  her  to  join  the  Allies.  Austria  naturally 
desired  to  free  Roumania  from  this  pressure.  The  leading  Austrian 
statesmen,  at  this  tune,  were  especially  interested  in  Hungary. 
The  Austrian  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  was  Baron  Stephen 
Burian,  the  Hungarian  diplomatist,  belonging  to  the  party  of  the 
Hungarian  Premier,  Count  Tisza.  It  was  his  own  country  that  was 
threatened.  The  prizes  of  a  victorious  campaign  were  therefore 
great. 

The  campaign  began  hi  January  amid  the  deepest  snow,  and 
continued  during  February  hi  the  midst  of  blizzards.  The  Austrians 
were  divided  into  three  separate  armies.  The  first  was  charged 
with  the  relief  of  Przemysl.  The  second  advanced  in  the  direction 
of  Lemberg,  and  the  third  moved  upon  Bukovina.  The  first  made 
very  little  progress,  after  a  number  of  lively  battles.  It  was  held 
pretty  safely  by  Brussilov.  The  second  army  was  checked  by 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  339 

Dmitrieff.  Further  east,  however,  the  army  of  the  Bukovina 
crossed  the  Carpathian  range,  and  made  considerable  advances. 
This  campaign  was  fought  out  in  a  great  number  of  battles,  the 
most  serious  of  which,  perhaps,  was  the  battle  of  Koziowa.  At 
that  point  Brussilov's  center  withstood  for  several  days  the  Austrian 
second  army  which  was  commanded  by  the  German  General  von 
Linsengen.  The  Russian  success  here  saved  Lemberg,  prevented 
the  relief  of  Przemysl  and  gave  time  to  send  reinforcements  into 
Bukovina. 

The  Austrian  third  army,  moving  on  Bukovina,  had  the 
greatest  Austrian  success.  They  captured  in  succession  Czerno- 
witz,  Kolomea,  and  Stanislau.  They  did  not  succeed,  however, 
in  driving  the  Russians  from  the  province.  The  Russians  retired 
slowly,  waiting  for  reinforcements.  These  reinforcements  came, 
whereupon  the  Austrians  were  pushed  steadily  back.  The  passes 
in  the  Carpathians  still  remained  in  Austrian  hands,  but  Przemysl 
was  not  relieved  or  Lemberg  recaptured.  On  March  22d  Przemysl 
fell. 

The  capture  of  Przemysl  was  the  greatest  success  that  Russia 
had  so  far  attained.  It  had  been  besieged  for  about  four  months, 
and  the  taking  of  the  fortress  was  hailed  as  the  first  spectacular 
success  of  the  war.  Its  capture  altered  the  whole  situation.  It 
released  a  large  Russian  army,  which  was  sent  to  reinforce  the 
armies  of  Ivanov,  where  the  Austrians  were  vigorously  attacked. 

By  the  end  of  March  the  Russians  had  captured  the  last 
Austrian  position  on  the  Lupkow  pass  and  were  attacking  vigor- 
ously the  pass  of  Uzzok,  which  maintained  a  stubborn  defense. 
Brussilov  tried  to  push  his  way  to  the  rear  of  the  Uzzok  position, 
and  though  the  Austrians  delivered  a  vigorous  counter-attack 
they  were  ultimately  defeated.  In  five  weeks  of  fighting  Ivanov 
captured  over  seventy  thousand  prisoners. 

During  this  period  there  was  considerable  activity  hi  East 
Prussia,  and  the  Courland  coast  was  bombarded  by  the  German 
Baltic  squadron.  There  was  every  indication  that  Austria  was 
near  collapse,  but  all  the  tune  the  Germans  were  preparing  for  a 
mighty  effort,  and  the  secret  was  kept  with  extraordinary  success. 
The  little  conflicts  in  the  Carpathians  and  in  East  Prussia  were 
meant  to  deceive,  while  a  great  army,  with  an  enormous  number 
of  guns  of  every  caliber,  and  masses  of  ammunition,  were  being 


340  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

gathered.  The  Russian  commanders  were  completely  deceived. 
There  had  been  no  change  in  the  generals  in  command  except  that 
General  Ruzsky,  on  account  of  illness,  was  succeeded  by  General 
Alexeiev.  The  new  German  army  was  put  under  the  charge  of 
von  Hindenburg's  former  lieutenant,  General  von  Mackensen. 
This  was  probably  the  strongest  army  that  Germany  ever  gathered, 
and  could  not  have  numbered  less  than  two  millions  of  men,  with 
nearly  two  thousand  pieces  in  its  heavy  batteries. 

On  April  28th,  the  action  began.  The  Austro-German  army 
lay  along  the  left  bank  of  the  Donajetz  River  to  its  junction  with 
the  Biala,  and  along  the  Biala  to  the  Carpathian  Mountains.  Von 
Mackensen's  right  moved  in  the  direction  of  Gorlice.  General 
Dmitrieff  was  compelled  to  weaken  his  front  to  protect  Gorlice 
and  then,  on  Saturday,  the  1st  of  May,  the  great  attack  began. 
Under  cover  of  artillery  fire  such  as  had  never  been  seen  before 
bridges  were  pushed  across  the  Biala  and  Ciezkowice  was  taken. 
The  Russian  positions  were  blown  out  of  existence.  The  Russian 
armies  did  what  they  could  but  their  defense  collapsed  and  they 
were  soon  in  full  retreat. 

The  German  armies  advanced  steadily,  and  though  the  Russians 
made  a  brave  stand  at  many  places  they  could  do  nothing.  On 
the  Wisloka  they  hung  on  for  five  days,  but  they  were  attempting 
an  impossibility.  From  that  tune  on  each  day  marked  a  new 
German  victory,  and  in  spite  of  the  most  desperate  fighting  the 
Russians  were  forced  back  until,  on  the  llth,  the  bulk  of  their  line 
lay  just  west  of  the  lower  San  as  far  as  Przemysl  and  then  south 
to  the  upper  Dniester.  The  armies  were  in  retreat,  but  were  not 
routed.  In  a  fortnight  the  army  of  Dmitrieff  had  fallen  back 
eighty-five  miles. 

The  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  by  this  time  understood  the  situa- 
tion. He  perceived  that  it  was  impossible  to  make  a  stand.  The 
only  thing  to  do  was  to  retreat  steadily  until  Germany's  mass  of 
war  material  should  be  used  up,  even  though  miles  of  territory 
should  be  sacrificed.  It  should  be  a  retreat  in  close  contact  with 
the  enemy,  so  that  the  Austro-German  troops  would  have  to  fight 
for  every  mile.  This  meant  a  retreat  not  for  days,  but  perhaps 
for  weeks.  It  meant  that  Przemysl  must  be  given  up,  and  Lemberg, 
and  even  Warsaw,  but  the  safety  of  the  Russian  army  was  of  more 
importance  than  a  province  or  a  city. 


THE  RUSSIAN   CAMPAIGN  341 

On  May  13th  the  German  War  Office  announced  their  suc- 
cesses in  the  following  terms:  "The  arrny  under  General  von 
Mackensen  in  the  course  of  its  pursuit  of  the  Russians  reached 
yesterday  the  neighborhood  of  Subiecko,  on  the  lower  Wisloka, 
and  Kolbuezowa,  northeast  of  Debica.  Under  the  pressure  of 
this  advance  the  Russians  also  retreated  from  their  positions 
north  of  the  Vistula.  In  this  section  the  troops  under  General 
von  Woyrach,  closely  following  the  enemy,  penetrated  as  far  as 
the  region  northwest  of  Kielce.  In  the  Carpathians  Austro- 
Hungarian  and  German  troops  under  General  von  Linsingen 
conquered  the  hills  east  of  the  Upper  Stryi,  and  took  3,660  men 
prisoners,  as  well  as  capturing  six  machine  guns.  At  the  present 
moment,  while  the  armies  under  General  von  Mackensen  are 
approaching  the  Przemysl  fortresses  and  the  lower  San,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  form  an  approximate  idea  of  the  booty  taken.  In  the 
battles  of  Tarno  and  Gorlika,  and  in  the  battles  during  the  pursuit 
of  these  armies,  we  have  so  far  taken  103,500  Russian  prisoners, 
69  cannon,  and  255  machine  guns.  In  these  figures  the  booty 
taken  by  the  Allied  troops  fighting  in  the  Carpathians,  and  north 
of  the  Vistula,  is  not  included.  This  amounts  to  a  further  40,000 
prisoners.  Przemysl  surrendered  to  the  Germans  on  June  3,  1915, 
only  ten  weeks  after  the  Russian  capture  of  the  fortress,  which 
had  caused  such  exultation." 

General  von  Mackensen  continued  toward  Lemberg,  the  capital 
of  Galicia.  On  June  18th,  when  the  victorious  German  armies 
were  approaching  the  gates  of  Lemberg,  the  Russian  losses  were 
estimated  at  400,000  dead  and  wounded,  and  300,000  prisoners, 
besides  100,000  lost  before  Marshal  von  Hindenburg's  forces  in 
Poland  and  Courland.  On  June  23d  Lemberg  fell.  The  weak- 
ness of  Russia  in  this  campaign  arose  from  the  exhaustion  of  her 
ammunition  supplies,  but  great  shipments  of  such  supplies  were 
being  constantly  forwarded  from  Vladivostok. 

When  the  German  army  crossed  the  San,  Wilhelm  II,  then 
German  Emperor,  was  present.  It  is  interesting  to  look  back 
on  the  scene.  Here  is  a  paragraph  from  the  account  of  the  Wolff 
Telegraphic  Bureau:  "The  Emperor  had  hurried  forward  to  his 
troops  by  automobile.  On  the  way  he  was  greeted  with  loud 
hurrahs  by  the  wounded,  riding  back  in  wagons.  On  the  heights 
of  Jaroslav  the  Emperor  met  Prince  Eitel  Friedrich,  and  then, 

19 


342  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

from  several  points  of  observation,  for  hours  followed  with  keen 
attention  the  progress  of  the  battle  for  the  crossing." 

While  the  great  offensive  hi  Galicia  was  well  under  way,  the 
Germans  were  pushing  forward  hi  East  Prussia.  Finding  little 
resistance  they  ultimately  invaded  Courland,  captured  Libau, 
and  established  themselves  firmly  hi  that  province.  The  sweep 
of  the  victorious  German  armies  through  Galicia  was  continued 
into  Poland.  On  July  19th  William  the  War  Lord  bombastically 
telegraphed  his  sister,  the  Queen  of  Greece,  to  the  effect  that  he 
had  "paralyzed  Russia  for  at  least  six  months  to  come,"  and  was 
on  the  eve  of  "delivering  a  coup  on  the  western  front  that  will 
make  all  Europe  tremble." 

It  would  be  futile  to  recount  the  details  of  the  various  German 
victories  which  followed  the  advance  into  Poland.  On  July  24th, 
the  German  line  ran  from  Novgorod  hi  the  north,  south  of  Przasnysz, 
thence  to  Novogeorgievsk,  then  swinging  to  the  southeast  below 
Warsaw  it  passed  close  to  the  west  of  Ivangorad,  Lublin,  Chelm, 
and  then  south  to  a  point  just  east  of  Lemberg.  Warsaw  at  that 
tune  was  hi  the  jaws  of  the  German  nutcracker. 

On  July  21st,  the  bells  hi  all  the  churches  throughout  Russia 
clanged  a  call  to  prayer  for  twenty-four  hours'  continual  sendee  of 
intercession  for  victory.  In  spite  of  the  heat  the  churches  were 
packed.  Hour  after  hour  the  people  stood  wedged  together,  while 
the  priests  and  choirs  chanted  then*  litanies.  Outside  the  Kamian 
Cathedral  an  open-air  mass  was  celebrated  in  the  presence  of  an 
enormous  crowd.  But  the  German  victories  continued. 

On  August  5th  Warsaw  was  abandoned.  Up  to  July  29th 
hope  was  entertained  in  military  quarters  in  London  and  Paris 
that  the  Germans  would  stand  a  siege  in  their  fortresses  along  the 
Warsaw  salient,  but  on  that  date  advices  came  from  Petrograd 
that  hi  order  to  save  the  Russian  armies  a  retreat  must  be  made, 
and  the  Warsaw  fortresses  abandoned.  For  some  time  before 
this  the  Russian  resistance  had  perceptibly  stiffened,  and  many 
vigorous  counter-attacks  had  been  made  against  the  German 
advance,  but  it  was  the  same  old  story,  the  lack  of  ammunition. 
The  armies  were  compelled  to  retire  and  await  the  munitions 
necessary  for  a  new  offensive. 

The  last  days  of  Russian  rule  hi  Warsaw  were  days  of  extraor- 
dinary interest.  The  inhabitants,  to  the  number  of  nearly  half 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  343 

a  million,  sought  refuge  in  Russia.  All  goods  that  could  be  useful 
to  the  Germans  were  either  removed  or  burned.  Crops  were 
destroyed  in  the  surrounding  fields.  When  the  Germans  entered 
they  found  an  empty  and  deserted  city,  with  only  a  few  Poles  and 
the  lowest  classes  of  Jews  still  left.  Warsaw  is  a  famous  city,  full 
of  ancient  palaces,  tastefully  adorned  shops,  finely  built  streets, 
and  fourscore  church  towers  where  the  bells  are  accustomed  to 
ring  melodiously  for  matins  and  vespers.  In  the  Ujazdowske 
Avenue  one  comes  to  the  most  charming  building  in  all  Warsaw, 
the  Lazienki  Palace,  with  its  delicious  gardens  mirrored  hi  a  lovely 
lake.  It  is  a  beautiful  city. 

The  fall  of  Warsaw  meant  the  fall  of  Russian  Poland,  but 
Russia  was  not  yet  defeated.  Von  Hindenburg  was  to  be  treated 
as  Napoleon  was  in  1812.  The  strategy  of  the  Grand  Duke  was 
sound;  so  long  as  he  could  save  the  army  the  victories  of  Germany 
would  be  futile.  It  is  true  that  the  German  armies  were  not  com- 
pelled, like  those  of  Napoleon,  to  live  on  the  land.  They  could 
bring  their  supplies  from  Berlin  day  by  day,  but  every  mile  they 
advanced  into  hostile  territory  made  their  task  harder.  The 
German  line  of  communication,  as  it  grew  longer,  became  weaker, 
and  the  troops  needed  for  garrison  duty  in  the  captured  towns, 
seriously  diminished  the  strength  of  the  fighting  army.  The 
Russian  retreat  was  good  strategy  and  it  was  carried  on  with  most 
extraordinary  cleverness. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  describe  the  events  which  succeeded  the 
fall  of  Warsaw  hi  great  detail.  There  was  a  constant  succession 
of  German  victories  and  Russian  defeats,  but  never  was  one  of  the 
Russian  armies  enveloped  or  destroyed.  Back  they  went,  day 
after  day,  always  fighting;  each  great  Russian  fortress  resisted 
until  it  saw  itself  hi  danger,  and  then  safely  withdrew  its  troops. 
Kovno  fell  and  Novogeorgievsk,  and  Ivangorad,  then  Ossowietz 
was  abandoned,  and  Brest-Litovsk  and  Grodno. 

On  September  5th  the  Emperor  of  Russia  signed  the  following 
order: 

Today  I  have  taken  supreme  command  of  all  the  forces  of  the  sea 
and  land  armies  operating  in  the  theater  of  war.  With  firm  faith  in  the 
clemency  of  God,  with  unshakable  assurance  in  final  victory,  we  shall 
fulfil  our  sacred  duty  to  defend  our  country  to  the  last.  We  will  not 
dishonor  the  Russian  land. 


844  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  was  made  Viceroy  of  the  Caucasus, 
a  post  which  took  him  out  of  the  main  theater  of  fighting  but  gave 
him  a  great  field  for  fresh  military  activity.  He  had  been  bearing 
a  heavy  burden,  and  had  shown  himself  to  be  a  great  commander. 
He  had  outmaneuvered  von  Hindenburg  again  and  again,  and 
though  finally  the  Russian  armies  under  his  command  had  been 
driven  back,  the  retreat  itself  was  a  proof  of  his  military  ability, 
not  only  hi  its  conception,  but  hi  the  way  hi  which  it  was  done. 

The  Emperor  chose  General  Alexieff  as  his  Chief  of  General 
Staff.  He  was  the  ablest  of  the  great  generals  who  had  been  lead- 
ing the  Russian  army.  With  this  change  in  command  a  new  spirit 
seemed  to  come  over  Russia.  The  German  advance,  however, 
was  not  yet  completely  checked.  It  was  approaching  Vilna. 

The  fighting  around  Vilna  was  the  bitterest  in  the  whole 
long  retreat.  On  the  18th  of  September  it  fell,  but  the  Russian 
troops  were  safely  removed  and  the  Russian  resistance  had  become 
strong.  Munitions  were  pouring  into  the  new  Russian  army. 
The  news  from  the  battle-front  began  to  show  improvement.  On 
September  8th  General  Brussilov,  further  in  the  south,  had  attacked 
the  Germans  hi  front  of  Tarnopol,  and  defeated  them  with  heavy 
loss.  More  than  seventeen  thousand  men  were  captured  with 
much  artillery.  Soon  the  news  came  of  other  advances.  Dubno 
was  retaken  and  Lutsk. 

The  end  of  September  saw  the  German  advance  definitely 
checked.  The  Russian  forces  were  now  extended  in  a  line  from 
Riga  on  the  north,  along  the  river  Dvina,  down  to  Dvinsk.  Then 
turning  to  the  east  along  the  river,  it  again  turned  south  and  so 
on  down  east  of  the  Pripet  Marshes,  it  followed  an  almost  straight 
line  to  the  southern  frontier.  Its  two  strongest  points  were  Riga, 
on  the  Gulf  of  Riga,  which  lay  under  the  protection  of  the  guns 
of  the  fleet,  and  Dvinsk,  through  which  ran  the  great  Petrograd 
Railway  line.  Against  these  two  points  von  Hindenburg  directed 
his  attack.  And  now,  for  the  first  tune  in  many  months,  he  met 
with  complete  failure.  The  German  fleet  attempted  to  assist  him 
on  the  Gulf  of  Riga,  but  was  defeated  by  the  Russian  Baltic  fleet 
with  heavy  losses.  A  bombardment  turned  out  a  failure  and  the 
German  armies  were  compelled  to  retire. 

A  more  serious  effort  was  made  against  Dvinsk  but  was  equally 
unsuccessful  and  the  German  losses  were  immense.  Again  and 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 


345 


THE  GERMAN  ATTACK  ON    THE   ROAD    TO    PETROGRAD 


346  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

again  the  attempt  was  made  to  cross  the  Dvina  River,  but  without 
success;  the  German  invasion  was  definitely  stopped.  By  the 
end  of  October  there  was  complete  stagnation  in  the  northern 
sector  of  the  battle  line,  and  though  in  November  there  were  a 
number  of  battles,  nothing  happened  of  great  importance. 

During  the  year  1916  the  Russian  armies  seemed  to  have 
had  a  new  birth.  At  last  they  were  supplied  with  guns  and  muni- 
tions. They  waited  until  they  were  ready.  In  March  a  series 
of  battles  was  fought  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lake  Narotch,  and 
eight  successive  attacks  were  made  against  the  German  army, 
intrenched  between]  Lake  Narotch  and  Lake  Vischenebski.  The 
Germans  at  first  were  driven  back  and  badly  defeated.  Later  on, 
however,  the  Russian  artillery  was  sent  to  another  section,  and 
the  Germans  were  able  to  recover  their  position.  During  June  the 
Russians  attacked  all  along  the  southern  part  of  their  line.  In 
three  weeks  they  had  regained  a  whole  province.  Lutsk  and 
Dubno  had  been  retaken;  two  hundred  thousand  men  and  hun- 
dreds of  guns,  had  been  captured,  and  the  Austrian  line  had  been 
pierced  and  shattered.  Further  south  the  German  army  had  been 
compelled  to  retreat,  and  the  Russian  armies  were  in  Bukovina 
and  Galicia.  On  the  10th  of  August  Stanislau  fell. 

By  this  tune  two  Austrian  armies  had  been  shattered,  over 
three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  prisoners  taken,  and  nearly 
a  million  men  put  out  of  action.  Germany,  however,  was  sending 
reinforcements  as  fast  as  possible,  and  putting  up  a  desperate 
defense.  Nevertheless  everything  was  encouraging  for  Russia 
and  she  entered  upon  the  whiter  hi  a  very  different  condition  from 
her  condition  hi  the  previous  year.  Then  she  had  just  ended  her 
great  retreat.  Now  she  had  behind  her  a  series  of  successes.  But 
a  new  difficulty  had  arisen  hi  the  loss  of  the  political  harmony  at 
home  which  had  marked  the  first  years  of  the  war.  Dark  days 
were  ahead. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

How  THE  BALKANS  DECIDED 

FOR  more  than  half  a  century  the  Balkans  have  presented  a 
problem  which  has  disturbed  the  minds  of  the  statesmen 
of  Europe.  Again  and  again,  during  that  period,  it  has 
seemed  that  in  the  Balkan  mountains  might  be  kindled  a 
blaze  which  might  set  the  world  afire.  Balkan  politics  is  a  labyrinth 
in  which  one  might  easily  be  lost.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Balkans 
represent  many  races,  each  with  its  own  ambition,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  military.  There  were  Serbs,  and  Bulgarians,  and  Turks, 
and  Roumanians,  and  Greeks,  and  their  territorial  divisions  did 
not  correspond  to  their  nationalities.  The  land  was  largely  moun- 
tainous, with  great  gaps  that  make  it,  in  a  sense,  the  highway  of 
the  world.  From  1466  to  1878  the  Balkans  was  in  the  dominion  of 
the  Turks.  In  the  early  days,  while  the  Turks  were  warring 
against  Hungary,  then-  armies  marched  through  the  Balkan  hills. 
The  natives  kept  apart,  and  preserved  then*  language,  religion  and 
customs. 

In  the  nineteenth  century,  as  the  Turks  grew  weaker,  then- 
subject  people  began  to  seek  independence.  Greece  came  first, 
and,  in  1829,  aided  by  France,  Russia  and  Great  Britain,  she  became 
an  independent  kingdom.  Serbia  revolted  in  1804,  and  by  1820 
was  an  autonomous  state,  though  still  tributary  to  Turkey.  In 
1859,  Roumania  became  autonomous.  The  rising  of  Bulgaria  in 
1876,  however,  was  really  the  beginning  of  the  succession  of 
events  which  ultimately  led  to  the  World  War  of  1914-18.  The 
Bulgarian  insurrection  was  crushed  by  the  Turks  in  such  a  way  as 
to  stir  the  indignation  of  the  whole  world.  What  are  known  as 
the  "Bulgarian  Atrocities"  seem  mild  today,  but  they  led  to  the 
Russo-Turkish  War  in  1877. 

The  treaty  of  Berlin,  by  which  that  war  was  settled  in  1878, 
was  one  of  those  treaties  which  could  only  lead  to  trouble, 
deprived  Russia  of  much  of  the  benefit  of  her  victory,  and  left 
nearly  every  racial  question  unsettled.    Roumania  lost  Bessarabia, 

347 


348  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

which  was  mainly  inhabited  by  Roumanians.  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina  were  handed  over  to  the  administration  of  Austria. 
Turkey  was  allowed  to  retain  Macedonia,  Albania  and  Thrace. 
Serbia  was  given  Nish,  but  had  no  outlet  to  the  sea.  Greece 
obtained  Thessaly,  and  a  new  province  was  made  of  the  country 
south  of  the  Balkans  called  Eastern  Rumelia.  From  that  time 
on,  quarrel  after  quarrel  made  up  the  history  of  the  Balkan  peoples, 
each  of  whom  sought  the  assistance  and  support  of  some  one  jf 
the  great  powers.  Russia  and  Austria  were  constantly  intriguing 
with  the  new  states,  hi  the  hope  of  extending  then-  own  domains 
in  the  direction  of  Constantinople. 

The  history  of  Bulgaria  shows  that  that  nation  has  been  con- 
tinually the  center  of  these  intrigues.  In  1879  they  elected  as 
their  sovereign  Prince  Alexander  of  Battenburg,  whose  career 
might  almost  be  called  romantic.  A  splendid  soldier  and  an  accom- 
plished gentleman,  he  stands  out  as  an  interesting  figure  in  the  sordid 
politics  of  the  Balkans.  He  identified  himself  with  his  new  country. 
In  1885  he  brought  about  a  union  with  Eastern  Rumelia,  which 
led  to  a  disagreement  with  Russia. 

Serbia,  doubtless  at  Russian  instigation,  suddenly  declared 
war,  but  was  overwhelmed  by  Prince  Alexander  in  short  order. 
Russia  then  abducted  Prince  Alexander,  but  later  was  forced  to 
restore  him.  However,  Russian  intrigues,  and  his  failure  to  obtain 
support  from  one  of  the  great  powers,  forced  his  abdication  in  1886. 

In  1887  Prince  Ferdinand  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha  became  the 
Prince  of  Bulgaria.  He,  also,  was  a  remarkable  man,  but  not  the 
romantic  figure  of  his  predecessor.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of 
a  parody  of  a  king.  He  was  fond  of  ostentation,  and  full  of  ambi- 
tion. He  was  a  personal  coward,  but  extremely  cunning.  During 
his  long  reign  he  built  up  Bulgaria  into  a  powerful,  independent 
kingdom,  and  even  assumed  the  title  of  Czar  of  Bulgaria.  During 
the  first  days  of  his  reign  he  was  kept  safely  on  the  throne  by  his 
mother,  the  Princess  Clementine,  a  daughter  of  Louis  Phillippe,  who, 
according  to  Gladstone,  was  the  cleverest  woman  hi  Europe,  and 
for  a  few  years  Bulgaria  was  at  peace.  In  1908  he  declared  Bulgaria 
independent,  and  its  independence  was  recognized  by  Turkey  on 
e  payment  of  an  indemnity.  During  this  period  Russia  was  the 
tector  of  Bulgaria,  but  the  Bulgarian  fox  was  looking  also  for 
the  aid  of  Austria.  Serbia  more  and  more  relied  upon  Russia. 


Photo  by  International  Film  Serrice. 

TRANSPORTING   WOUNDED    AMID   THE  DIFFICULTIES   OF   THE 

ITALIAN  MOUNTAIN  FRONT 

The  isolated  mountain  positions  were  only  accessible  to  the  bases  of  opera- 
ions  by  these  aerial  cable  cars.  This  picture,  taken  during  the  Austrian  retreat, 
shows  a  wounded  soldier  being  taken  down  the  mountain  by  this  means. 


\ 


':^^tj£%':~  -•' 

.;.4,,:*-^K;^^f 

•       ciV   5*  *'  '  -^>^>^*/    - 

•*SsL-._  :-v    n  .^% 


O  Vndvruood  and  Underwood,  N.  Y. 

m .    ,  British  Official  Photo 

THE  NERVE-SYSTEM   OF  THE  FIGHTING  ARMIES 

human 0      th^  signal  8y8tem  was  to  the  armies, 


HOW  THE   BALKANS  DECIDED  351 

The  Austrian  treatment  of  the  Slavs  was  a  source  of  constant 
irritation  to  Serbia.  Roumania  had  a  divided  feeling.  Her  loss 
of  Bessarabia  to  Russia  had  caused  ill  feeling,  but  in  Austria's 
province  of  Transylvania  there  were  millions  of  Roumanians, 
whom  Roumania  desired  to  bring  under  her  rule.  Greece  was 
fearful  of  Russia,  because  of  Russia's  desire  for  the  control  of 
Constantinople.  All  of  these  nations,  too,  were  deeply  conscious 
of  the  Austro-German  ambitions  for  extension  of  their  power 
through  to  the  East.  Each  of  these  principalities  was  also  jealous 
of  the  other.  Bulgaria  and  Serbia  had  been  at  war;  many  Bul- 
garians were  in  the  Roumanian  territory,  many  Serbians,  Bulgarians 
and  Greeks  in  Macedonia.  There  was  only  one  tie  in  common, 
that  was  then*  hatred  of  Turkey.  In  1912  a  league  was  formed, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Greek  statesman,  Venizelos,  having  for 
its  object  an  attack  on  Turkey.  By  secret  treaties  arrangements 
were  made  for  the  division  of  the  land,  which  they  hoped  to  obtain 
from  Turkey. 

War  was  declared,  and  Turkey  was  decisively  defeated,  and 
then  the  trouble  began.  Serbia  and  Bulgaria  had  been  particularly 
anxious  for  an  outlet  to  the  sea,  and  in  the  treaty  between  them 
it  had  been  arranged  that  Serbia  should  have  an  outlet  on  the 
Adriatic,  while  Bulgaria  was  to  obtain  an  outlet  on  the  JSgean. 
The  Triple  Alliance  positively  refused  Serbia  its  share  of  the 
Adriatic  coast.  Serbia  insisted,  therefore,  on  a  revision  of  the 
treaty,  which  would  enable  her  to  have  a  seaport  on  the  JEgean. 

An  attempt  was  made  to  settle  the  question  by  arbitration, 
but  King  Ferdinand  refused,  whereupon,  in  July,  1913,  the  Second 
Balkan  War  began.  Bulgaria  was  attacked  by  Greece  and  Serbia, 
and  Turkey  took  a  chance  and  regained  Adrianople,  and  even 
Roumania,  which  had  been  neutral  in  the  First  Baltic  War,  mobil- 
ized her  armies  and  marched  toward  Sofia.  Bulgaria  surrendered, 
and  on  the  10th  of  August  the  Treaty  of  Bucharest  was  signed  by 
the  Balkan  States. 

As  a  result  of  this  Bulgaria  was  left  in  a  thoroughly  dissatisfied 
state  of  mind.  She  had  been  the  leader  in  the  war  against  Turkey, 
she  had  suffered  heavy  losses,  and  she  had  gained  almost  nothing. 
Moreover  she  had  lost  to  Roumania  a  territory  containing  a 
quarter  of  a  million  Bulgarians,  and  a  splendid  harbor  on  the  Black 
Sea.  Serbia  and  Greece  were  the  big  winners.  Such  a  treaty 


352  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

could  not  be  a  final  settlement.  The  Balkans  were  left  seething 
with  unrest.  Serbia,  though  she  had  gained  much,  was  still  dis- 
satisfied. Her  ambitions,  however,  now  turned  in  the  direction 
of  the  Jugoslavs  under  the  rule  of  Austria,  and  it  was  her  agitation 
in  this  matter  which  directly  brought  on  the  Great  War.  But 
Bulgaria  was  sullen  and  ready  for  revenge.  When  the  Great  War 
began,  therefore,  Roumania,  Serbia,  Montenegro  and  Greece  were 
strongly  in  sympathy  with  Russia,  who  had  been  their  backer  and 
friend.  Bulgaria,  in  spite  of  all  she  owed  to  Russia  in  the  early 
days,  was  now  ready  to  find  protection  from  an  alliance  with  the 
Central  Powers.  Her  feeling  was  well  known  to  the  Allies,  and 
every  effort  was  made  to  obtain  her  friendship  and,  if  possible, 
her  aid. 

Viviani,  then  Premier  of  France,  in  an  address  before  the 
French  Chamber  of  Deputies,  said: 

The  Balkan  question  was  raised  at  the  outset  of  the  war,  even  before 
it  came  to  the  attention  of  the  world.  The  Bucharest  Treaty  had  left  hi 
Bulgaria  profound  heartburnings.  Neither  King  nor  people  were  resigned 
to  the  loss  of  the  fruits  of  their  efforts  and  sacrifices,  and  to  the  conse- 
quences of  the  unjustifiable  war  they  had  waged  upon  their  former  allies. 
From  the  first  day,  the  Allied  governments  took  into  account  the  dangers 
of  such  a  situation,  and  sought  a  means  to  remedy  it.  Their  policy  has 
proceeded  in  a  spirit  of  justice  and  generosity  which  has  characterized 
the  attitude  of  Great  Britain,  Russia  and  Italy  as  well  as  France.  We 
have  attempted  to  re-establish  the  union  of  the  Baltic  peoples,  and  in 
accord  with  them  seek  the  realization  of  their  principal  national  aspira- 
tions. The  equilibrium  thus  obtained  by  mutual  sacrifices  really  made  by 
each  would  have  been  the  best  guarantee  of  future  peace.  Despite  con- 
stant efforts  in  which  Roumania,  Greece  and  Serbia  lent  their  assistance, 
we  have  been  unable  to  obtain  the  sincere  collaboration  of  the  Bulgarian 
Government.  The  difiiculties  respecting  the  negotiations  were  always  at 
Sofia. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  it  appears,  therefore,  that  Bul- 
garia was  entering  into  negotiations  with  the  Allies,  hoping  to  regain 
in  this  way,  some  of  the  territory  she  had  lost  in  the  Second  Baltic 
War.  Many  of  her  leading  statesmen  and  most  distinguished  gen- 
erals favored  the  cause  of  Russia,  but  hi  May  came  the  great 
German  advance  in  Galicia,  and  the  Allies'  stalemate  in  the 
Dardanelles,  and  the  king,  and  his  supporters,  found  the  way 
clear  for  a  movement  in  favor  of  Germany.  Still  protesting 
neutrality  they  signed  a  secret  treaty  with  Berlin,  Vienna  and 


HOW  THE  BALKANS  DECIDED  353 

Constantinople  on  July  17th.  The  Central  Powers  had  promised 
them  not  only  what  they  had  been  asking,  in  Macedonia,  but  also 
the  Greek  territory  of  Epirus.  This  treaty  was  concealed  from 
those  Bulgarian  leaders  who  still  held  to  Russia,  and  on  the  5th  of 
October  Bulgaria  formally  entered  into  war  on  the  side  of  Germany, 
and  began  an  attack  on  Serbia. 

The  full  account  of  the  intrigue  which  led  to  this  action  haa 
never  been  told.  It  is  not  improbable  that  King  Ferdinand  him- 
self never  had  any  other  idea  than  to  act  as  he  did,  but  he  dis- 
sembled for  a  long  time.  He  set  forth  his  claims  in  detail  to  the 
Allies,  who  used  every  effort  to  induce  Roumania,  Greece  and 
Serbia  to  make  the  concessions  that  would  be  necessary.  Such 
concessions  were  made,  but  not  until  it  was  too  late.  In  a  tele- 
gram from  Milan  dated  September  24th,  an  account  is  given  of 
an  interview  between  Czar  Ferdinand  and  a  committee  from  those 
Bulgarians  who  were  opposed  to  the  King's  policy. 

"Mind  your  own  head.  I  shall  mind  mine!"  are  the  words 
which  the  King  spoke  to  M.  Stambulivski  when  he  received  the 
five  opposition  members  who  had  come  to  warn  him  of  the  danger 
to  which  he  was  exposing  himself  and  the  nation. 

The  five  members  were  received  by  the  King  in  the  red  room 
at  the  Royal  Palace  and  chairs  had  been  placed  for  them  around  a 
big  table.  The  King  entered  the  room,  accompanied  by  Prince 
Boris,  the  heir  apparent,  and  his  secretary,  M.  Boocovitch. 

"Be  seated,  gentlemen,"  said  the  King,  as  he  sat  down  him- 
self, as  if  for  a  very  quiet  talk.  His  secretary  took  a  seat  at  the 
table,  a  little  apart  to  take  notes,  but  the  conversation  immediately 
became  so  heated  and  rapid  that  he  was  unable  to  write  it  down. 

The  first  to  speak  was  M.  Malinoff,  leader  of  the  Democratic 
party,  who  said:  "The  policy  adopted  by  the  government  is  one 
of  adventure,  tending  to  throw  Bulgaria  into  the  arms  of  Germany, 
and  driving  her  to  attack  Serbia.  This  policy  is  contrary  to  the 
aspirations,  feeling  and  interests  of  the  country,  and  if  the  govern- 
ment obstinately  continues  in  this  way  it  will  provoke  disturbances 
of  the  greatest  gravity."  It  was  the  first  allusion  to  the  possi- 
bility of  a  revolution,  but  the  King  listened  without  flinching. 
M.  Malinoff  concluded:  "For  these  reasons  we  beg  your  Majesty, 
after  having  vainly  asked  the  government,  to  convoke  the  Chamber 
immediately,  and  we  ask  this  convocation  for  the  precise  object  of 


354  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

saving  the  country  from  dangerous  adventures  by  the  formation 
of  a  coalition  Ministry." 

The  King  remained  silent,  and,  with  a  nod,  invited  M.  Stam- 
bulivski  to  speak.  M.  Stambulivski  was  a  leader  of  the  Agrarian 
party,  a  man  of  sturdy,  rustic  appearance,  accustomed  to  speak 
out  his  mind  boldly,  and  exceedingly  popular  among  the  peasant 
population.  He  grew  up  himself  as  a  peasant,  and  wore  the  labor- 
er's blouse  up  till  very  recently.  He  stood  up  and  looking  the  King 
straight  in  the  face  said  in  resolute  tones:  "In  the  name  of  every 
farmer  in  Bulgaria  I  add  to  what  M.  Malinoff  has  just  said,  that 
the  Bulgarian  people  hold  you  personally  responsible  more  than 
your  government,  for  the  disastrous  adventure  of  1913.  If  a 
similar  adventure  were  to  be  repeated  now  its  gravity  this  tune 
would  be  irreparable.  The  responsibility  would  once  more  fall 
on  your  policy,  which  is  contrary  to  the  welfare  of  our  country, 
and  the  nation  would  not  hesitate  to  call  you  personally  to  account. 
That  there  may  be  no  mistake  as  to  the  real  wishes  of  the  country 
I  present  to  your  Majesty  my  country's  demand  hi  writing." 

He  handed  the  King  a  letter  containing  the  resolution  voted 
by  the  Agrarians.  The  King  read  it  and  then  turned  to  M.  Zanoff, 
leader  of  the  Radical  Democrats,  and  asked  him  to  speak.  M. 
Zanoff  did  so,  speaking  very  slowly  and  impressively,  and  also 
looking  the  King  straight  hi  the  face:  "Sire,  I  had  sworn  never 
again  to  set  foot  inside  your  palace,  and  if  I  come  today  it  is 
because  the  interests  of  my  country  are  above  personal  questions, 
and  have  compelled  me.  Your  Majesty  may  read  what  I  have  to 
say  in  this  letter,  which  I  submit  to  you  in  behalf  of  our  party." 

He  handed  the  letter  and  the  King  read  it  and  still  remained 
silent.  Then  he  said,  turning  to  his  former  Prime  Minister  and 
ablest  politician:  "Gueshoff,  it  is  now  your  turn  to  speak." 

M.  Gueshoff  got  up  and  said:  "I  also  am  fully  in  accord  with 
what  M.  Stambulivski  has  just  said.  No  matter  how  severe  his 
words  may  have  been  in  their  simple  unpolished  frankness,  which 
ignores  the  ordinary  formalities  of  etiquette,  they  entirely  express 
our  unanimous  opinion.  We  all,  as  representing  the  opposition, 
consider  the  present  policy  of  the  government  contrary  to  the 
sentiments  and  interests  of  the  country,  because  by  driving  it  to 
make  common  cause  with  Germany  it  makes  us  the  enemies  of 
Russia,  which  was  our  deliverer,  and  the  adventure  into  which  we 


HOW  THE  BALKANS   DECIDED  355 

are  thus  thrown  compromises  our  future.  We  disapprove  most 
absolutely  of  such  a  policy,  and  we  also  ask  that  the  Chamber  be 
convoked,  and  a  Ministry  formed  with  the  co-operation  of  all 
parties." 

After  M.  Gueshoff,  the  former  Premier,  M.  Daneff,  also  spoke, 
and  associated  himself  with  what  had  already  been  said. 

The  King  remained  still  silent  for  a  while,  then  he,  also,  stood 
up  and  said:  "Gentlemen,  I  have  listened  to  your  threats,  and 
will  refer  them  to  the  President  of  the  Council  of  Ministers,  that 
he  may  know  and  decide  what  to  do." 

All  present  bowed,  and  a  chilly  silence  followed.  The  King 
had  evidently  taken  the  frank  warning  given  him  as  a  threat  to  him 
personally,  and  he  walked  up  and  down  nervously  for  a  while. 
Prince  Boris  turned  aside  to  talk  with  the  Secretary,  who  had 
resumed  taking  notes.  The  King  continued  pacing  to  and  fro, 
evidently  very  nettled.  Then,  approaching  M.  Zanoff,  and  as  if 
to  change  the  conversation,  he  asked  him  for  news  about  this 
season's  harvest. 

M.  Zanoff  abruptly  replied:  "Your  Majesty  knows  that  we 
have  not  come  here  to  talk  about  the  harvest,  but  of  something 
far  more  important  at  present,  namely,  the  policy  of  your  govern- 
ment, which  is  on  the  point  of  mining  our  country.  We  can  on 
no  account  approve  the  policy  that  is  anti-Russian.  If  the  Crown 
and  M.  Radoslavoff  persist  hi  their  policy  we  shall  not  answer  for 
the  consequences.  We  have  not  desired  to  seek  out  those  responsi- 
ble for  the  disaster  of  1913,  because  other  grave  events  have  been 
precipitated.  But  it  was  a  disaster  due  to  criminal  folly.  It 
must  not  be  repeated  by  an  attack  on  Serbia  by  Bulgaria,  as  seems 
contemplated  by  M.  Radoslavoff,  and  which  according  to  all 
appearances,  has  the  approval  of  your  Majesty.  It  would  be  a 
premeditated  crime,  and  deserve  to  be  punished." 

The  King  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  held  out  his  hand  to 
M.  Zanoff,  saying:  "All  right.  At  all  events  I  thank  you  for  your 
frankness."  Then,  approaching  M.  Stambulivski,  he  repeated  to 
him  his  question  about  the  harvest. 

M.  Stambuliviski,  as  a  simple  peasant,  at  first  allowed  himself 
to  be  led  into  a  discussion  of  this  secondary  matter,  and  had 
expressed  the  hope  that  the  prohibition  on  the  export  of  cereals 
would  be  removed,  when  he  suddenly  remembered,  and  said: 


356  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

"But  this  is  not  the  moment  to  speak  of  these  things.  I  again 
repeat  to  your  Majesty  that  the  country  does  not  want  a  policy 
of  adventure  which  cost  it  so  dear  in  1913.  It  was  your  own 
policy  too.  Before  1913  we  thought  you  were  a  great  diplomatist, 
but  since  then  we  have  seen  what  fruits  your  diplomacy  bears. 
You  took  advantage  of  all  the  loopholes  in  the  Constitution  to 
direct  the  country  according  to  your  own  views.  Your  ministers 
are  nothing.  You  alone  are  the  author  of  this  policy  and  you  will 
have  to  bear  the  responsibility." 

The  King  replied  frigidly,  "The  policy  which  I  have  decided 
to  follow  is  that  which  I  consider  the  best  for  the  welfare  of  the 
country." 

"It  is  a  policy  which  will  only  bring  misfortune,"  replied  the 
sturdy  Agrarian.  "It  will  lead  to  fresh  catastrophes,  and  com- 
promise not  only  the  future  of  our  country,  but  that  of  your 
dynasty,  and  may  cost  you  your  head." 

It  was  as  bold  a  saying  as  ever  was  uttered  before  a  King,  and 
Ferdinand  looked  astonished  at  the  peasant  who  was  thus  speak- 
ing to  him.  He  said,  "Do  not  mind  my  head;  it  is  already  old. 
Rather  mind  your  own!"  he  added  with  a  disdainful  smile,  and 
turned  away. 

M.  Stambulivski  retorted:  "My  head  matters  little,  Sire. 
What  matters  more  is  the  good  of  our  country." 

The  King  paid  no  more  attention  to  him,  and  took  M.  Gueshoff 
and  M.  Danoff  apart,  who  again  insisted  on  convoking  the  Chamber, 
and  assured  him  that  M.  Radoslavoff's  government  would  be  in  a 
minority.  They  also  referred  to  the  Premier's  oracular  utterances. 

"Ah I"  said  the  King.  "Has  Radoslavoff  spoken  to  you,  and 
what  has  he  said?" 

"He  has  said—  '  replied  the  leaders,  "that  Bulgaria  would 
march  with  Germany  and  attack  Serbia." 

The  King  made  a  vague  gesture,  and  then  said:  'Oh,  I  did 
not  know." 

This  incident  throws  a  strong  light  upon  the  conflict  which 
was  going  on  in  the  Balkan  states,  between  those  Kings  who  were 
of  German  origin,  and  who  believed  in  the  German  power,  and 
their  people  who  loved  Russia.  King  Ferdinand  got  his  warning. 
He  did  not  listen,  and  he  lost  his  throne.  All  this,  however,  took 
place  before  the  Bulgarian  declaration  of  war.  Yet  much  had 


HOW  THE  BALKANS  DECIDED  357 

already  shown  what  King  Ferdinand  was  about  to  do.  The 
Allies,  to  be  sure,  were  incredulous,  and  were  doing  their  best  to 
cultivate  the  good  will  of  the  treacherous  King.  On  September 
23d  the  official  order  was  given  for  Bulgaria's  mobilization.  She, 
however,  officially  declared  that  her  position  was  that  of  armed 
neutrality  and  that  she  had  no  aggressive  intentions.  As  it  has 
developed,  she  was  acting  under  the  direction  of  the  German 
High  Command. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  Germany  had  failed  to  crush  Russia 
in  the  struggle  on  the  Vilna,  and,  in  accordance  with  her  usual 
strategy  when  one  plan  failed,  another  was  undertaken.  It  seemed 
to  her,  therefore,  that  the  punishment  of  Serbia  would  make  up 
for  other  failures,  and  moreover  would  enable  her  to  assist  Turkey, 
which  needed  munitions,  besides  releasing  for  Germany  supplies 
of  food  and  other  material  which  might  come  from  Turkey.  They 
therefore  entrusted  an  expedition  against  Serbia  to  Field  Marshal 
von  Mackensen,  and  had  begun  to  gather  an  army  for  that  purpose, 
north  of  the  Danube. 

This  army  of  course  was  mainly  composed  of  Austrian  troops, 
but  was  stiffened  throughout  by  some  of  the  best  regiments  from 
the  German  army.  To  assist  this  new  army  they  counted  upon 
Bulgaria,  with  whom  they  had  already  a  secret  treaty,  and  hi 
spite  of  the  falsehoods  issued  from  Sofia,  the  Bulgarian  mobiliza- 
tion was  meant  for  an  attack  on  Serbia.  The  condition  of  affairs 
was  well  understood  hi  Russia. 

On  October  2,  1915,  M.  Sazonov,  Russian  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  issued  the  following  statement.  "The  situation  in  the 
Balkans  is  very  grave.  The  whole  Russian  nation  is  aroused  by 
the  unthinkable  treachery  of  Ferdinand  and  his  government  to 
the  Slavic  cause.  Bulgaria  owes  her  independence  to  Russia,  and 
yet  seems  willing  now  to  become  a  vassal  of  Russia's  enemies. 
In  her  attitude  towards  Serbia,  when  Serbia  is  fighting  for  her  very 
existence,  Bulgaria  puts  herself  in  the  class  with  Turkey.  We  do 
not  believe  that  the  Bulgarian  people  sympathize  with  the  action  of 
then-  ruler;  therefore,  the  Allies  are  disposed  to  give  them  tune  for 
reflection.  If  they  persist  in  then-  present  treacherous  course  they 
must  answer  to  Russia." 

The  next  day  the  following  ultimatum  from  Russia  was 
handed  the  Bulgarian  Prime  Minister: 


358  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Events  which  are  taking  place  in  Bulgaria  at  this  moment  give  evi- 
dence of  the  definite  decision  of  King  Ferdinand's  Government  to  place 
the  fate  of  its  country  in  the  hands  of  Germany.  The  presence  of  German 
and  Austrian  officers  at  the  Ministry  of  War  and  on  the  staffs  of  the  army, 
the  concentration  of  troops  in  the  zone  bordering  on  Serbia,  and  the 
extensive  financial  support  accepted  from  her  enemies  by  the  Sofia  Cab- 
inet, no  longer  leave  any  doubt  as  to  the  object  of  the  present  military 
preparations  of  Bulgaria.  The  powers  of  the  Entente,  who  have  at 
heart  the  realization  of  the  aspirations  of  the  Bulgarian  people,  have  on 
many  occasions  warned  M.  Radoslavoff  that  any  hostile  act  against 
Serbia  would  be  considered  as  directed  against  themselves.  The  assur- 
ances given  by  the  head  of  the  Bulgarian  Cabinet  in  reply  to  these  warn- 
ings are  contradicted  by  facts.  The  representative  of  Russia,  bound  to 
Bulgaria  by  the  imperishable  memory  of  her  liberation  from  the  Turkish 
yoke,  cannot  sanction  by  his  presence  preparations  for  fratricidal  aggres- 
sion against  a  Slav  and  allied  people.  The  Russian  Minister  has,  there- 
fore, received  orders  to  leave  Bulgaria  with  all  the  staffs  of  the  Legation 
and  the  Consulates  if  the  Bulgarian  Government  does  not  within  twenty- 
four  hours  openly  break  with  the  enemies  of  the  Slav  cause  and  of  Russia, 
and  does  not  at  once  proceed  to  send  away  the  officers  belonging  to  the 
armies  of  states  who  are  at  war  with  the  powers  of  the  Entente. 

Similar  ultimatums  were  presented  by  representatives  of 
France  and  Great  Britain.  Bulgaria's  reply  to  these  ultimatums  was 
described  as  bold  to  the  verge  of  insolence.  In  substance  she 
denied  that  German  officers  were  on  the  staffs  of  Bulgarian  armies, 
but  said  that  if  they  were  present  that  fact  concerned  only  Bulgaria, 
which  reserved  the  right  to  invite  whomsoever  she  liked.  The 
Bulgarian  Government  then  issued  a  manifesto  to  the  nation,  an- 
nouncing its  decision  to  enter  the  war  on  the  side  of  the  Central 
Powers.  The  manifesto  reads  as  follows: 

The  Central  Powers  have  promised  us  parts  of  Serbia,  creating  an 

Austro-Hungarian  border  line,  which  is  absolutely  necessary  for  Bulgaria's 

independence  of  the  Serbians.     We  do  not  believe  in  the  promises  of  the 

Quadruple  Entente.     Italy,  one  of  the  Allies,  treacherously  broke  her 

treaty  of  thirty-three  years.     We  believe  in  Germany,  which  is  fighting 

3  whole  world  to  fulfil  her  treaty  with  Austria.      Bulgaria  must  fight 

3  victor's  side.    The  Germans  and  Austro-Hungarians  are  victorious 

I  fronts.     Russia  soon  will  have  collapsed  entirely.     Then  will  come 

turn  of  France,  Italy  and  Serbia.     Bulgaria  would  commit  suicide  if 

did  not  fight  on  the  side  of  the  Central  Powers,  which  offer  the  only 

lity  of  realizing  her  desire  for  a  union  of  all  Bulgarian  peoples. 

The  manifesto  also  stated  that  Russia  was  fighting  for  Con- 
stantinople and  the  Dardanelles;  Great  Britain  to  destroy  Ger- 


359 

many's  competition;  France  for  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  and  the 
other  allies  to  rob  foreign  countries;  the  Central  Powers  were 
declared  to  be  fighting  to  defend  property  and  assure  peaceful 
progress.  The  manifesto  filled  seven  columns  hi  the  newspapers, 
and  discussed  at  some  length  Bulgaria's  trade  interests.  It  attacked 
Serbia  most  bitterly,  declaring  that  Serbia  had  oppressed  the  Bul- 
garian population  of  Macedonia  hi  a  most  barbarous  manner; 
that  she  had  attacked  Bulgarian  territory  and  that  the  Bulgarian 
troops  had  been  forced  to  fight  for  the  defense  of  their  own  soil. 
In  fact  it  was  written  in  quite  the  usual  German  manner. 

Long  before  this  M.  Venizelos,  the  Greek  Premier,  had  per- 
ceived what  was  coming.  Greece  was  bound  by  treaty  to  assist 
Serbia  if  she  were  attacked  by  Bulgaria.  On  September  21st, 
Venizelos  asked  France  and  Britain  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
troops.  On  the  24th,  the  Allies  agreed  to  this  and  Greece  at  once 
began  to  mobilize.  His  policy  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm 
in  the  Greek  Chamber,  and  former  Premier  Gounaris,  amid  great 
applause,  expressed  his  support  of  the  government. 

On  October  6th  an  announcement  from  Athens  stated  that 
Premier  Venizelos  had  resigned,  the  King  having  informed  him 
that  he  was  unable  to  support  the  policy  of  his  Minister.  King 
Constantine  was  a  brother-in-law  of  the  German  Emperor,  and 
although  professing  neutrality  he  had  steadily  opposed  M.  Veni- 
zelos' policy.  He  had  once  before  forced  M.  Venizelos'  resignation, 
but  at  the  general  elections  which  followed,  the  Greek  statesman 
was  returned  to  power  by  a  decisive  majority. 

Intense  indignation  was  caused  by  the  King's  action,  though 
the  King  was  able  to  procure  the  support  of  a  considerable  party. 
Venizelos'  resignation  was  precipitated  by  the  landing  of  the  Allied 
troops  hi  Saloniki.  They  had  come  at  the  invitation  of  Venizelos, 
but  the  opposition  protested  against  the  occupation  of  Greek  terri- 
tory by  foreign  troops.  After  a  disorderly  session  in  which  Veni- 
zelos explained  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  the  circumstances 
connected  with  the  landing,  the  Chamber  passed  a  vote  of  confi- 
dence in  the  government  by  142  to  102.  The  substance  of  his 
argument  may  be  found  in  his  conclusion: 

"We  have  a  treaty  with  Serbia.  If  we  are  honest  we  will 
leave  nothing  undone  to  insure  its  fulfilment  hi  letter  and  spirit. 
Only  if  we  are  rogues  may  we  find  excuses  to  avoid  our  obligations." 


SCO 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


HOW  THE  BALKANS  DECIDED  361 

Upon  his  first  resignation  M.  Zaimis  was  appointed  Premier, 
and  declared  for  a  policy  of  armed  neutrality.  This  position  was 
sharply  criticised  by  Venizelos,  but  for  a  time  became  the  policy 
of  the  Greek  Government.  Meantime  the  Allied  troops  were 
arriving  at  Saloniki.  On  October  3d,  seventy  thousand  French 
troops  arrived.  A  formal  protest  was  made  by  the  Greek  command- 
ant, who  then  directed  the  harbor  officials  to  assist  in  arranging 
the  landing.  In  a  short  time  the  Allied  forces  amounted  to  a 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men,  but  the  German  campaign  was 
moving  rapidly. 

The  German  Balkan  army  captured  Belgrade  on  the  9th  of 
October,  and  by  that  date  two  Bulgarian  armies  were  on  the 
Serbian  frontier.  Serbia  found  herself  opposed  by  two  hundred 
thousand  Austro-Germans  and  a  quarter  of  a  million  Bulgarians. 
Greece  and  Roumania  fully  mobilized  and  were  watching  the 
conflict,  and  the  small  allied  contingent  at  Saloniki  was  preparing 
to  march  inland  to  the  aid  of  Serbia. 

The  conduct  of  Greece  on  this  occasion  has  led  to  universal 
criticism.  The  King  himself,  no  doubt,  was  mainly  moved  by 
his  German  wife  and  the  influence  of  his  Imperial  brother-in-law. 
Those  that  were  associated  with  him  were  probably  moved  by 
fear.  They  had  been  much  impressed  by  the  strength  of  the 
German  armies.  They  had  seen  the  success  of  the  great  German 
offensive  in  Russia,  while  the  French  and  British  were  being  held 
in  the  West.  They  knew,  too,  the  strength  of  Bulgaria.  The 
national  characteristic  of  the  Greeks  is  prudence,  and  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  there  was  great  reason  to  suppose  that  the  armies  of 
Greece  would  not  be  able  to  resist  the  new  attack.  With  these 
views  Venizelos,  the  greatest  statesman  that  Greece  had  pro- 
duced for  many  years,  did  not  agree,  and  the  election  seemed  to 
show  that  he  was  supported  by  the  majority  of  the  Greek  people. 

This  was  another  case  where  the  Allies,  faced  by  a  dangerous 
situation,  were  acting  with  too  great  caution.  In  Gallipoli  they 
had  failed,  because  at  the  very  beginning  they  had  not  used  their 
full  strength.  Now,  again,  knowing  as  they  did  all  that  depended 
upon  it,  bound  as  they  were  to  the  most  loyal  support  of  Serbia, 
the  aid  they  sent  was  too  small  to  be  more  than  a  drop  in  the  bucket. 
It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  greatest  leaders  among 
the  Allies  were  at  all  times  opposed  to  in  any  way  scattering  their 


362  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

strength.  They  believed  that  the  war  was  to  be  won  in  France. 
Military  leaders  in  particular  yielded  under  protest  to  the  political 
leaders  when  expeditions  of  this  character  were  undertaken. 

Certainly  this  is  true,  that  the  world  believed  that  Serbia  had  a 
right  to  Allied  assistance.  The  gallant  little  nation  was  fighting 
for  her  life,  and  public  honor  demanded  that  she  should  be  aided. 
It  was  this  strong  feeling  that  led  to  the  action  that  was  taken,  hi 
spite  of  the  military  opinions.  It  was,  however,  too  late. 

In  the  second  week  of  October  Serbia  found  herself  faced  by 
an  enemy  which  was  attacking  her  on  three  sides.  She  herself  had 
been  greatly  weakened.  Her  losses  in  1914,  when  she  had  driven 
Austria  from  her  border,  must  have  been  at  least  two  hundred 
thousand  men.  She  had  suffered  from  pestilence  and  famine.  Her 
strength  now  could  not  have  been  more  than  two  hundred  thousand, 
and  though  she  was  fairly  well  supplied  with  munitions,  she  was 
so  much  outnumbered  that  she  could  hardly  hope  for  success. 
On  her  west  she  was  facing  the  Austro-Gennan  armies;  on  her  east 
Bulgaria;  on  the  south  Albania.  Her  source  of  supplies  was 
Saloniki  and  this  was  really  her  only  hope.  If  the  Allies  at  Salo- 
niki  could  stop  the  Bulgarian  movement,  the  Serbians  might  face 
again  the  Austro-Gennans.  They  expected  this  help  from  the 
Allies. 

At  Nish  the  town  was  decorated  and  the  school  children 
waited  outside  the  station  with  bouquets  to  present  to  the  coming 
reinforcements.  But  the  Allies  did  not  come. 

Von  Mackensen's  plan  was  simple  enough.  His  object  was 
to  win  a  way  to  Constantinople.  This  could  be  done  either  by  the 
control  of  the  Danube  or  the  Ottoman  Railroad.  To  control  the 
Danube  he  had  to  seize  northeastern  Serbia  for  the  length  of  the 
river.  This  was  comparatively  easy  and  would  give  him  a  clear 
water  way  to  the  Bulgarian  railways  connected  with  Constanti- 
nople. The  Ottoman  Railway  was  a  harder  route  to  win.  It 
meant  an  advance  to  the  southeast,  which  would  clear  the  Moravo 
valley  up  to  Nish,  and  then  the  Nishava  valley  up  to  Bulgaria. 
The  movements  involved  were  somewhat  complex,  but  easily 
earned  out  on  account  of  the  very  great  numerical  superiority  of 
von  Mackensen's  forces. 

On  September  19th  Belgrade  was  bombarded.  The  Serbian 
positions  were  gradually  destroyed.  On  the  7th  of  October  the 


HOW  THE  BALKANS   DECIDED 


363 


German  armies  crossed  the  Danube,  and  on  the  8th  the  Serbians 
began  to  retreat.  There  was  great  destruction  in  Belgrade  and 
the  Bulgarian  General,  Mishitch,  was  forced  slowly  back  to  the 
foothills  of  the  Tser  range. 

For  a  tune  von  Mackensen  moved  slowly.  He  did  not  wish 
to  drive  the  Serbians  too  far  south.  On  the  12th  of  October  the 
Bulgarian  army  began  its  attack.  At  first  it  was  held,  but  by 
October  17th  was  pushing  forward  all  along  the  line.  On  the  20th 
they  entered  Uskub,  a  central  point  of  all  the  routes  of  southern 

Serbia.  This  practically 
separated  the  Allied  forces 
at  Saloniki  from  the  Serb- 
ian armies  further  north. 
Disaster  followed  dis- 
aster. On  Tuesday, 
October  26th,  a  junction 
of  Bulgarian  and  Austro- 


German  pa- 
trols was  com- 
pleted in  the 
D  obr  avodo 
mountains. 
General  von  Gallwitz 
announced  that  a  mo- 
ment of  world  signifi-  GERMANY'S 
cance  had  come,  that  the 
"Orient  and  Occident  had  been  united,  and  on  the  basis  of  this 
firm  and  indissoluble  union  a  new  and  mighty  vierbund  comes  into 
being,  created  by  the  victory  of  our  arms." 

The  road  from  Germany,  through  Austria-Hungary  and  Bul- 
garia to  Turkey  lay  open.  On  October  31st,  Milanovac  was  lost, 
and  on  November  2d,  Kraguyevac  surrendered,  the  decisive 
battle  of  the  war.  On  November  7th,  Nish  was  captured.  General 
Jecoff  announced:  "After  fierce  and  sanguinary  fighting  the  for- 
tress of  Nish  has  been  conquered  by  our  brave  victorious  troops 
and  the  Bulgarian  flag  has  been  hoisted  to  remain  forever." 


364  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  Serbian  army  continued  steadily  to  retreat,  until  on 
November  8th,  advancing  Franco-British  troops  almost  joined 
with  them,  presenting  a  line  from  Prilep  to  Dorolovo  on  the  Bul- 
garian frontier.  At  this  tune  the  Bulgarian  army  suffered  a  defeat 
at  Izvor,  and  also  at  Strumitza.  The  Allied  armies  were  now 
reported  to  number  three  hundred  thousand  men.  The  Austro- 
Germans  by  this  tune  had  reached  the  mountainous  region  of 
Serbia,  and  were  meeting  with  strong  resistance. 

On  November  13th,  German  despatches  from  the  front  claimed 
the  capture  of  54,000  Serbian  prisoners.  The  aged  King  Peter 
of  Serbia  was  in  full  flight,  followed  by  the  Crown  Prince.  The 
Serbians,  however,  were  still  fighting  and  on  November  15th, 
made  a  stand  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Morava  River,  and  recap- 
tured the  town  of  Tatova. 

At  this  tune  the  Allied  world  was  watching  the  Serbian  struggle 
with  interest  and  sympathy.  In  the  House  of  Lords,  Lord  Lans- 
downe  in  a  discussion  of  the  English  effort  to  give  them  aid  said: 
"It  is  impossible  to  think  or  speak  of  Serbia  without  a  tribute  to 
the  wondrous  gallantry  with  which  that  little  country  withstood 
two  separate  invasions,  and  has  lately  been  struggling  against  a 
third.  She  repelled  the  first  two  invasions  by  an  effort  which  I 
venture  to  think  formed  one  of  the  most  glorious  chapters  in  the 
history  of  this  Great  War." 

Serbia,  however,  was  compelled  once  more  to  retreat,  and 
their  retreat  soon  became  a  rout.  Then*  guns  were  abandoned 
and  the  roads  were  strewn  with  fainting,  starving  men.  The  suf- 
ferings of  the  Serbian  people  during  this  time  are  indescribable. 
Men,  women,  and  children  struggled  along  in  the  wake  of  the  armies 
without  food  or  shelter.  King  Peter  himself  was  able  to  escape, 
with  the  greatest  difficulty.  By  traveling  on  horseback  and  mule 
back  in  disguise  he  finally  reached  Scutari  and  crossed  to  Brindisi 
and  finally  arrived  at  Saloniki  on  New  Year's  Day,  crippled  and 
almost  blind,  but  still  full  of  fight. 

"I  believe,"  he  said,  "in  the  liberty  of  Serbia,  as  I  believe  in 
God.  It  was  the  dream  of  my  youth.  It  was  for  that  I  fought 
throughout  manhood.  It  has  become  the  faith  of  the  twilight  of 
my  life.  I  live  only  to  see  Serbia  free.  I  pray  that  God  may  let 
me  live  until  the  day  of  redemption  of  my  people.  On  that  day  I 
am  ready  to  die,  if  the  Lord  wills.  I  have  struggled  a  great  deal 


HOW  THE   BALKANS   DECIDED  365 

in  my  life,  and  am  tired,  bruised  and  broken  from  it,  but  I  will  see, 
I  shall  see,  this  triumph.  I  shall  not  die  before  the  victory  of  my 
country." 

The  Serbian  army  had  been  driven  out  of  Serbia.  But  the 
Allies  who  had  come  up  from  Saloniki  were  still  unbeaten.  On 
October  12th,  the  French  General  Serrail  arrived  and  moved  with 
the  French  forces,  as  has  already  been  said,  to  the  Serbian  aid. 
They  met  with  a  number  of  successes.  On  October  19th  they 
seized  the  Bulgarian  town  of  Struminitza,  and  occupied  strong 
positions  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Vardar.  On  October  27th  they 
occupied  Krivolak,  with  the  British  Tenth  Division,  which  had 
joined  them  on  then1  right.  They  then  occupied  the  summit  of 
Karahodjali,  which  commanded  the  whole  section  of  the  valley. 
This  the  Bulgarians  attacked  hi  force  on  the  5th  of  November, 
but  were  badly  repulsed.  They  then  attempted  to  move  toward 
Babuna  Pass,  twenty-five  miles  west  of  Krivolak,  where  they 
hoped  to  join  hands  with  the  Serbian  column  at  that  point. 

They  were  being  faced  by  a  Bulgarian  army  numbering  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  men,  and  found  themselves  in 
serious  danger.  They  were  compelled  to  fall  back  into  what  is 
called  the  "  Entrenched  Camp  of  Kavodar"  without  bringing  the 
aid  to  the  Serbian  army  that  they  had  hoped.  The  Allied  expedi- 
tion to  aid  Serbia  had  failed.  It  was  hopeless  from  the  start,  and, 
if  anything,  had  injured  Serbia  by  raising  false  expectations  which 
had  interfered  with  their  plans. 

During  the  whole  of  this  disastrous  campaign  a  desperate 
political  struggle  was  going  on  in  Greece.  On  November  3d,  the 
Zaimis  Cabinet  tendered  its  resignation  to  King  Constantine. 
The  trouble  was  over  a  bill  for  extra  pay  to  army  officers,  but  it 
led  to  an  elaborate  discussion  of  the  Greek  war  policy.  M.  Veni- 
zelos  made  two  long  speeches  defending  his  policy,  and  condemning 
the  policy  of  his  opponents  in  regard  to  the  Balkan  situation.  He 
said  that  he  deplored  the  fact  that  Serbia  was  being  left  to  be 
crushed  by  Bulgaria,  Greece's  hereditary  enemy,  who  would  not 
scruple  later  to  fall  on  Greece  herself.  He  spoke  of  the  King  in  a 
friendly  way,  criticising,  however,  his  position.  He  had  been 
twice  removed  from  the  Premiership,  although  he  had  a  majority 
behind  him  in  the  Greek  Chamber. 

"Our  State"  he  said,  "is  a  democracy,  presided  over  by  the 


366  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

King,  and  the  whole  responsibility  rests  with  the  Cabinet.  I 
admit  that  the  Crown  has  a  right  to  disagree  with  the  responsible 
government  if  he  thinks  the  latter  is  not  in  agreement  with  the 
national  will.  But  after  the  recent  election,  non-agreement  is 
out  of  the  question,  and  now  the  Crown  has  not  the  right  to  disagree 
again  on  the  same  question.  It  is  not  a  question  of  patriotism  but 
of  constitutional  liberty." 

When  the  vote  was  taken  the  government  was  defeated  by 
147  to  114.  Instead  of  appointing  Venizelos  Premier,  King  Con- 
stantine  gave  the  position  to  M.  Skouloudis,  and  then  dissolved 
the  Greek  Chamber  by  royal  decree.  Premier  Skouloudis  declared 
his  policy  to  be  neutrality  with  the  character  of  sincerest  benevo- 
lence toward  the  Entente  Powers.  The  general  conditions  at 
Athens  during  this  whole  tune  were  causing  great  anxiety  in  the 
Allied  capitals,  and  the  Allied  expedition  were  in  continual  fear  of 
an  attack  in  the  rear  in  case  of  reverse.  They  endeavored  to  obtain 
satisfactory  assurances  on  this  point,  and  while  assurances  were 
given,  during  the  whole  period  of  King  Constantino's  reign  aggres- 
sive action  was  prevented  because  of  the  doubt  as  to  what  course 
King  Constantino  would  take. 

It  was  not  till  August  27th,  1916,  that  Roumania  cast  aside 
her  r61e  of  neutral  and  entered  the  war  with  a  declaration  of  hos- 
tilities on  Austria-Hungary.  Great  expectations  were  founded 
upon  the  supposedly  well-trained  Roumanian  army  and  upon  the 
nation  which,  because  of  its  alertness  and  discipline,  was  known 
as  "the  policeman  of  Europe."  The  belief  was  general  hi  Paris 
and  London  that  the  weight  of  men  and  material  thrown  into  the 
scale  by  Roumania  would  bring  the  war  to  a  speedy,  victorious  end. 

Germany,  however,  was  confident.  A  spy  system  excelling 
hi  its  detailed  reports  anything  that  had  heretofore  been  attempted, 
made  smooth  the  path  of  the  German  army.  Scarcely  had  the 
Roumanian  army  launched  a  drive  in  force  into  Transylvania  on 
August  30th,  when  the  message  spread  from  Bucharest  "von 
Mackensen  is  coming.  Recall  the  army.  Draft  all  males  of 
military  age.  Prepare  for  the  worst." 

And  the  worst  fell  upon  hapless  Roumania.  A  vast  force  of 
military  engineers  moving  like  a  human  screen  in  front  of  von 
Mackensen's  army,  followed  routes  carefully  mapped  out  by 
German  spies  during  the  period  of  Roumania's  neutrality.  Mili- 


BAGDAD  THE  MAGNIFICENT  FALLS  TO  THE  BRITISH 
General  Maude  la  here  shown  making  his  formal  entry  at  the  head  of  his  troops 
into  the  ancient  city.    This  occurred  on  March  11,  1917,  and  was  the  most  notable 
exploit  of  General  Maude,  commander  of  the  British  Mesopotamian  expedition  until 
his  death  by  cholera  nine  months  afterwards. 


HOW  THE   BALKANS   DECIDED  369 

tary  bridges,  measured  to  the  inch,  had  been  prepared  to  carry 
cannon,  material  and  men  over  streams  and  ravines.  Every 
Roumanian  oil  well,  mine  and  storehouse  had  been  located  and 
mapped.  German  scientists  had  studied  Roumanian  weather 
conditions  and  von  Mackensen  attacked  while  the  roads  were  at 
their  best  and  the  weather  most  favorable.  As  the  Germans 
swept  forward,  spies  met  them  giving  them  military  information 
of  the  utmost  value.  A  swarm  of  airplanes  spied  out  the  move- 
ments of  the  Roumanians  and  no  Roumanian  airplanes  rose  to 
meet  them. 

General  von  Falkenhayn,  co-operating  with  von  Mackensen, 
smashed  his  way  through  Vulkan  Pass,  and  cut  the  main  line 
running  to  Bucharest  at  Craiova.  The  Dobrudja  region  was 
over-run  and  the  central  Roumanian  plain  was  swept  clear  of  all 
Roumanian  opposition  to  the  German  advance.  The  seat  of 
government  was  transferred  from  Bucharest  to  Jassy  on  November 
28,  1916,  and  on  December  6th  Bucharest  was  entered  by  von 
Mackensen,  definitely  putting  an  end  to  Roumania  as  a  factor  in 
the  war. 

The  immediate  result  of  the  fall  of  Roumania  was  to  release 
immense  stores  of  petroleum  for  German  use.  British  and  Rou- 
manian engineers  had  done  their  utmost  by  the  use  of  explosives 
to  make  useless  the  great  Roumanian  oil  wells,  but  German 
engineers  soon  had  the  precious  fluid  in  full  flow.  This  furnished 
the  fuel  which  Germany  had  long  and  ardently  desired.  The 
oil-burning  submarine  now  came  into  its  own.  It  was  possible 
to  plan  a  great  fleet  of  submersibles  to  attempt  execution  of  von 
Tirpitz's  plan  for  unrestricted  submarine  warfare.  This  was 
decided  upon  by  the  German  High  Command  the  day  Bucharest 
fell.  It  was  realized  that  such  a  policy  would  bring  the  United 
States  into  the  war,  but  the  Kaiser  and  his  advisers  hoped  the 
submarine  on  sea  and  a  great  western  front  offensive  on  land  would 
force  a  decision  in  favor  of  Germany  before  America  could  get 
ready.  How  that  hope  failed  was  revealed  at  Chateau-Thierry 
and  in  the  humiliation  of  Germany. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  MESOPOTAMIA 

IN  our  previous  discussion  of  the  British  campaign  hi  Mesopo- 
tamia we  left  the  British  forces  intrenched  at  Kurna,  and 
also  occupying  Basra,  the  port  of  Bagdad.  The  object  of 

the  Mesopotamia  Expedition  was  primarily  to  keep  the  enemy 
from  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Persia.  If  the  English  had  been 
satisfied  with  that,  the  misfortune  which  was  to  come  to  them 
might  never  have  occurred,  but  the  whole  expediton  was  essen- 
tially political  rather  than  military  hi  its  nature. 

The  British  were  defending  India.  The  Germans,  unable  to 
attack  the  British  Empire  by  sea,  were  hoping  to  attack  her  by 
land.  They  had  already  attempted  to  stir  up  a  Holy  War  with 
the  full  expectation  that  it  would  lead  to  an  Indian  revolution. 
In  this  they  had  failed,  fop  the  millions  of  Mohammedans  in  India 
cared  little  for  the  Turkish  Sultan  or  his  proclamations.  Through 
Bagdad,  however,  they  hoped  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  English  influ- 
ence on  the  Persian  Gulf .  The  English,  therefore,  felt  strongly 
that  it  was  not  enough  to  sit  safely  astride  the  Tigris,  but  that  a 
blow  at  Bagdad  would  produce  a  tremendous  political  effect.  It 
would  practically  prevent  German  communication  with  Persia, 
and  the  Indian  frontier. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  oil  fields  were 
safe  so  long  as  the  English  held  Kurna  and  Basra,  and  the  Arabs 
were  of  no  special  consequence.  The  real  reason  for  the  expedition 
was  probably  that  about  this  tune  matters  were  moving  badly 
for  the  Allies.  Serbia  was  in  trouble  in  the  Balkans,  Gallipoli 
was  a  failure,  something  it  seemed  ought  to  be  done  to  restore  the 
British  prestige.  Up  to  this  tune  the  Mesopotamia  Expedition 
had  been  a  great  success,  but  it  had  made  no  great  impression  on 
the  world.  The  little  villages  in  the  hands  of  the  British  had 
unknown  names,  but  if  Bagdad  should  be  captured  Great  Britain 
would  have  something  to  boast  of;  something  that  would  keep 
up  its  prestige  among  its  Mohammedan  subjects. 

370 


THE   CAMPAIGN   IN  MESOPOTAMIA          371 

Before  the  expedition  to  Bagdad  was  determined  on,  there 
had  been  several  lively  fights  between  the  English  forces  and  the 
Turks.  On  March  3d  a  Turkish  force  numbering  about  twelve 
thousand  appeared  at  Ahwaz  where  the  British  had  placed  a  small 
garrison  to  protect  the  pipe  line  of  the  Anglo-Persian  Oil  Company. 
The  British  retirement  led  to  heavy  fighting,  with  severe  losses. 

A  number  of  lively  skirmishes  followed,  and  then  came  the 
serious  attack  against  Shaiba.  The  Turkish  army  numbered  about 
eighteen  thousand  men,  of  whom  eleven  thousand  were  regulars. 
The  fighting  lasted  for  several  days,  the  Turks  being  reinforced. 
On  the  14th  of  April,  however,  the  English  attacked  in  turn  and 
put  the  whole  enemy  force  to  flight.  The  British  lost  about  seven 
hundred  officers  and  men,  and  reported  a  Turkish  loss  of  about 
six  thousand.  In  their  retreat  the  Turks  were  attacked  by  their 
Arab  allies,  and  suffered  additional  losses.  From  that  time  till 
summer  there  were  no  serious  contests,  although  there  were  occa- 
sional skirmishes  which  turned  out  favorably  to  the  British. 

By  this  time  the  Turks  had  collected  a  considerable  army 
north  of  Kurna,  and  on  May  31st  an  expedition  was  made  to 
disperse  it.  On  June  3d  the  British  captured  Amara,  seventy-five 
miles  above  Kurna,  scattering  the  Turkish  army.  Early  in  July 
a  similar  expedition  was  sent  against  Nasiriyeh,  which  led  to  serious 
fighting,  the  Turks  being  badly  defeated  with  a  loss  of  over  two 
thousand  five  hundred  men. 

Kut-el-Amara  still  remained,  and  early  hi  August  an  expedi- 
tion was  directed  against  that  point.  The  Turks  were  found  in 
great  force,  well  intrenched,  and  directed  by  German  officers. 
The  battle  lasted  for  four  days.  The  English  suffered  great  hard- 
ship on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  water  and  the  blinding  heat, 
but  on  September  29th  they  drove  the  enemy  from  the  city  and 
took  possession.  More  than  two  thousand  prisoners  were  taken. 
The  town  was  found  thoroughly  fortified,  with  an  elaborate  system 
of  trenches  extending  for  miles,  built  in  the  true  German  fashion. 
Its  capture  was  the  end  of  the  summer  campaign. 

The  British  now  had  at  last  made  up  their  minds  to  push  on 
to  Bagdad.  General  Townshend,  whose  work  so  far  had  been 
admirable,  protested,  but  Sir  John  Nixon,  and  the  Indian  military 
authorities,  were  strongly  in  favor  of  the  expedition.  By  October, 
Turkey  was  able  to  gather  a  large  army.  She  was  fighting  in 


37* 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  MESOPOTAMIA 


373 


Transcaucasia,  Egypt,  Gallipoli  and  Mesopotamia.  Little  was 
going  on  in  the  first  three  of  these  fronts,  and  she  was  able  there- 
fore to  send  to  Mesopotamia  almost  a  quarter  of  a  million  men. 

To  meet  these,  General  Townshend  had  barely  fifteen  thousand 
men,  of  whom  only  one-third  were  white  soldiers.  He  was  backed 
by  a  flotilla  of  boats  of  almost  every  kind, — river  boats,  motor 
launches,  paddle  steamers,  native  punts.  The  British  army  was 
almost  worn  out  by  the  fighting  during  the  intense  heat  of  the 
previous  summer.  But  their  success  had  given  them  confidence. 

In  the  early  days  of  October  the  advance  began.  For  some 
days  it  proceeded  with  no  serious 
fighting.  On  the  23d  of  October 
it  reached  Azizie,  and  was  halted 
by  a  Turkish  force  numbering 
about  four  thousand.  These  were 
soon  routed,  and  the  advance 
continued  until  General  Town- 
shend arrived  at  Lajj,  about  seven 
miles  from  Ctesiphon,  where  the 
Turks  were  found  heavily  in- 
trenched and  in  great  numbers. 
Ctesiphon  was  a  famous  old  city 
which  had  been  the  battle  ground 
of  Romans  and  Parthians,  but  was 
now  mainly  ruins.  In  these  ruins, 
however,  the  Turks  found  admirable 
shelter  for  nests  of  machine  guns. 
On  the  21st  of  November  General 
Townshend  made  his  attack. 

The  Turks  occupied  two  lines  of   intrenchments,   and  had 
about  twenty  thousand  men,  the  English  about  twelve  thousand. 
General  Townshend's  plan  was  to  divide  his  army  into  1 
columns.     The  first  was  to  attack  the  center  of  the  first 
position.     A  second  was  directed  at  the  left  of  that  posilion,  and 
a  third  was  to  swing  widely  around  and  come  in  on  the  rear  of  the 
Turkish  force.     This  plan  was  entirely  successful,  but  the  Turkis 
army  was  not  routed,  and  retreated  fighting  desperately  to  its 
second  line.     There  it  was  reinforced  and  counter-attacked  with 
such  vigor  that  it  drove  the  British  back  to  its  old  first  trenches. 


MAP  OF  GEN.  TOWNSHEND'S  LINES  OF 
ATTACK  ON  KUT-EL-AMARA 


374  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  next  day  the  Turks  were  further  reinforced  and  attacked 
again.  The  British  drove  them  back  over  and  over,  but  found 
themselves  unable  to  advance.  The  Turks  had  lost  enormously 
but  the  English  had  lost  about  one-third  of  their  strength,  and 
were  compelled  to  fall  back.  They  therefore  returned  on  the 
26th  to  Lajj,  and  ultimately,  after  continual  rear-guard  actions, 
to  Kut.  There  they  found  themselves  surrounded,  and  there  was 
nothing  to  do  but  to  wait  for  help. 

By  this  tune  the  eyes  of  the  world  were  upon  the  beleaguered 
British  army.  Help  was  being  hurried  to  them  from  India,  but 
Germany  also  was  awake  and  Marshal  von  Der  Goltz,  who  had 
been  military  instructor  in  the  Turkish  army,  was  sent  down  to 
take  command  of  the  Turkish  forces.  The  town  of  Kut  lies  in 
the  loop  of  the  Tigris,  making  it  almost  an  island.  There  was  an 
intrenched  line  across  the  neck  of  land  on  the  north,  and  the  place 
could  resist  any  ordinary  assault.  The  great  difficulty  was  one  of 
supplies.  However,  as  the  relieving  force  was  on  the  way,  no 
great  anxiety  was  felt.  For  some  days  there  was  constant  bombard- 
ment, which  did  no  great  damage.  On  the  23d  an  attempt  was 
made  to  carry  the  place  by  assault,  but  this  too  failed.  The  reliev- 
ing force,  however,  was  having  its  troubles.  These  were  the  days 
of  floods,  and  progress  was  slow  and  at  times  almost  impossible. 
Moreover,  the  Turks  were  constantly  resisting. 

The  relief  expedition  was  composed  of  thirty  thousand  Indian 
troops,  two  Anglo-Indian  divisions,  and  the  remnants  of  Town- 
shend's  expedition,  a  total  of  about  ninety  thousand  men.  General 
Sir  Percy  Lake  was  in  command  of  the  entire  force.  The  march 
began  on  January  6th.  By  January  8th  the  British  had  reached 
Sheikh  Saad,  where  the  Turks  were  defeated  in  two  pitched  battles. 
On  January  22d  he  had  arrived  at  Umm-el-Hanna,  where  the 
Turks  had  intrenched  themselves. 

After  artillery  bombardment  the  Turkish  positions  were 
attacked,  but  heavy  rains  had  converted  the  ground  into  a  sea  of 
mud,  rendering  rapid  movement  impossible.  The  enemy's  fire 
was  heavy  and  effective,  inflicting  severe  losses,  and  though  every 
effort  was  made,  the  assault  failed. 

For  weeks  the  British  troops  bivouacked  in  driving  rain  on 
soaked  and  sodden  ground.  Three  times  they  were  called  upon 
to  advance  over  a  perfectly  flat  country,  deep  in  mud,  and  abso- 


THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  MESOPOTAMIA         375 

lutely  devoid  of  cover  against  well-constructed  and  well-planned 
trenches,  manned  by  a  brave  and  stubborn  enemy,  approximately 
their  equal  in  numbers.  They  showed  a  spirit  of  endurance  and 
self-sacrifice  of  which  their  country  may  well  be  proud. 

But  the  repulse  at  Hanna  did  not  discourage  the  British  army. 
It  was  decided  to  move  up  the  left  bank  of  the  Tigris  and  attack 
the  Turkish  position  at  the  Dujailah  redoubt.  This  meant  a  night 
march  across  the  desert  with  the  great  danger  that  there  would 
be  no  water  supply  and  that,  unless  the  enemy  was  routed,  the 
army  would  be  hi  great  danger. 

General  Lake  says:  "On  the  afternoon  of  March  7th,  General 
Aylmer  assembled  his  subordinate  commanders  and  gave  his  final 
instructions,  laying  particular  stress  on  the  fact  that  the  operation 
was  designed  to  effect  a  surprise,  and  that  to  prevent  the  enemy 
forestalling  us,  it  was  essential  that  the  first  phase  of  the  operation 
should  be  pushed  through  with  the  utmost  vigor.  His  dispositions 
were,  briefly,  as  follows:  The  greater  part  of  a  division  under 
General  Younghusband,  assisted  by  naval  gunboats,  controlled  the 
enemy  on  the  left  bank.  The  remaining  troops  were  formed  into 
two  columns,  under  General  Kemball  and  General  Keary  respect- 
ively, a  reserve  of  infantry,  and  the  cavalry  brigade,  being  held 
at  the  corps  commander's  own  disposal.  Kemball's  column 
covered  on  the  outer  flank  by  the  cavalry  brigade  was  to  make  a 
turning  movement  to  attack  the  Dujailah  redoubt  from  the  south, 
supported  by  the  remainder  of  the  force,  operating  from  a  position 
to  the  east  of  the  redoubt.  The  night  march  by  this  large  force, 
which  led  across  the  enemy's  front  to  a  position  on  his  right  flank, 
was  a  difficult  operation,  entailing  movement  over  unknown  ground, 
and  requiring  most  careful  arrangement  to  attain  success." 

Thanks  to  excellent  staff  work  and  good  march  discipline  the 
troops  reached  their  allotted  position  apparently  undiscovered  by 
the  enemy,  but  while  Keary's  column  was  in  position  at  daybreak, 
ready  to  support  Kemball's  attack,  the  latter's  command  did  not 
reach  the  point  selected  for  its  deployment  hi  the  Dujailah  depres- 
sion until  more  than  an  hour  later.  This  delay  was  highly  preju- 
dicial to  the  success  of  the  operation. 

When,  nearly  three  hours  later,  Kemball's  troops  advanced 
to  the  attack,  they  were  strongly  opposed  by  the  enemy  from 
trenches  cleverly  concealed  in  the  brushwood,  and  were  unable  to 


376  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

make  further  ground  for  some  time,  though  assisted  by  Keary's 
attack  upon  the  redoubt  from  the  east.  The  southern  attack  was 
now  reinforced,  and  by  1  P.  M.  had  pushed  forward  to  within  five 
hundred  yards  of  the  redoubt,  but  concealed  trenches  again  stopped 
further  progress  and  the  Turks  made  several  counter-attacks  with 
reinforcements  which  had  by  now  arrived  from  the  direction  of 
Magasis. 

It  was  about  this  tune  that  the  corps  commander  received 
from  his  engineer  officers  the  unwelcome  news  that  the  water  supply 
contained  hi  rain-water  pools  in  the  Dujailah  depression,  upon 
which  he  had  reckoned,  was  insufficient  and  could  not  be  increased 
by  digging.  It  was  clear,  therefore,  that  unless  the  Dujailah 
redoubt  could  be  carried  that  day  the  scarcity  of  water  would,  of 
itself,  compel  the  troops  to  fall  back.  Preparations  were  accord- 
ingly made  for  a  further  assault  on  the  redoubt,  and  attacks  were 
launched  from  the  south  and  east  under  cover  of  a  heavy  bombard- 
ment. 

The  attacking  forces  succeeded  in  gaining  a  foothold  in  the 
redoubt.  But  here  they  were  heavily  counter-attacked  by  large 
enemy  reinforcements,  and  being  subjected  to  an  extremely  rapid 
and  accurate  shrapnel  fire  from  concealed  guns  in  the  vicinity  of 
Sinn  After,  they  were  forced  to  fall  back  to  the  position  from  which 
they  started.  The  troops  who  had  been  under  arms  for  some 
thirty  hours,  including  a  long  night  march,  were  now  much 
exhausted,  and  General  Aylmer  considered  that  a  renewal  of  the 
assault  during  the  night  could  not  be  made  with  any  prospect  of 
success.  Next  morning  the  enemy's  position  was  found  to  be 
unchanged  and  General  Aylmer,  finding  himself  faced  with  the 
deficiency  of  order  already  referred  to,  decided  upon  the  immediate 
withdrawal  of  his  troops  to  Wadi,  which  was  reached  the  same  night. 

For  the  next  month  the  English  were  held  in  their  positions 
by  the  Tigris  floods.  On  April  4th  the  floods  had  sufficiently 
receded  to  permit  of  another  attack  upon  Umm-el-Hanna,  which 
this  tune  was  successful.  On  April  8th  the  Turkish  position  at 
Sanna-i-yat  was  attacked,  but  the  English  were  repulsed.  They 
then  determined  to  make  another  attempt  to  capture  the  Sinn 
After  redoubt.  On  April  17th  the  fort  of  Beit-Aiessa,  four  miles 
Sinn,  on  the  left  bank,  was  captured  after  heavy  bombard- 
ment, and  held  against  serious  counter-attacks.  On  the  20th 


THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  MESOPOTAMIA         877 

and  21st  the  Sanna-i-yat  position  was  bombarded  and  a  vigorous 
assault  was  made,  which  met  with  some  success.  The  Turks, 
however,  delivered  a  strong  counter-attack,  and  succeeded  in 
forcing  the  British  troops  back. 

General  Lake  says:  "Persistent  and  repeated  attempts  on 
both  banks  have  thus  failed,  and  it  was  known  that  at  the  outside 
not  more  than  six  days'  supplies  remained  to  the  Kut  garrison. 
The  British  troops  were  nearly  worn  out.  The  same  troops  had 
advanced  tune  and  again  to  assault  positions  strong  by  art  and 
held  by  a  determined  enemy.  For  eighteen  consecutive  days  they 
had  done  all  that  men  could  do  to  overcome,  not  only  the  enemy, 
but  also  exceptional  climatic  and  physical  obstacles,  and  this 
on  a  scale  of  rations  which  was  far  from  being  sufficient  hi  view  of 
the  exertions  they  had  undergone.  The  need  for  rest  was  im- 
perative." 

On  April  28th  the  British  garrison  at  Kut-el-Amara  surrendered 
unconditionally,  after  a  heroic  resistance  of  a  hundred  and  forty- 
three  days.  According  to  British  figures  the  surrendered  army 
was  composed  of  2,970  English  and  6,000  Indian  troops.  The 
Turkish  figures  are  13,300.  The  Turks  also  captured  a  large 
amount  of  booty,  although  General  Townshend  destroyed  most  of 
his  guns  and  munitions. 

During  the  period  in  which  Kut-el-Amara  was  besieged  by 
the  Turks,  the  British  troops  had  suffered  much.  The  enemy  bom- 
barded the  town  almost  every  day,  but  did  little  damage.  The 
real  foe  was  starvation.  At  first  the  British  were  confident  that  a 
relief  expedition  would  soon  reach  them,  and  they  amused  them- 
selves by  cricket  and  hockey  and  fishing  hi  the  river.  By  early 
February,  however,  it  was  found  necessary  to  reduce  the  rations, 
and  a  month  later  they  were  suffering  from  hunger.  Some  little 
help  was  given  them  by  airplanes,  which  brought  tobacco  and  some 
small  quantities  of  supplies.  Soon  the  horses  and  the  mules  were 
slaughtered  and  eaten.  As  time  went  on  the  situation  grew  des- 
perate; till  almost  the  end,  however,  they  did  not  lose  hope. 
Through  the  wireless  they  were  informed  about  the  progress  of  the 
relief  expeditions  and  had  even  heard  their  guns  in  the  distance. 
They  gradually  grew,  however,  weaker  and  weaker,  so  that  on 
the  surrender  the  troops  hi  the  first  lines  were  too  weak  to  march 
back  with  their  kits. 


378  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

The  Turks  treated  the  prisoners  in  a  chivalric  manner;  food 
and  tobacco  was  at  once  distributed,  and  all  were  interned  in 
Anatolia,  except  General  Townshend  and  his  staff,  who  were  taken 
to  Constantinople.  Later  on  it  was  General  Townshend  who  was 
to  have  the  honor  of  carrying  the  Turkish  plea  for  an  armistice  in 
the  closing  days  of  the  war. 

The  surrender  of  Kut  created  a  world-wide  sensation.  The 
loss  of  eight  thousand  troops  was,  of  course,  not  a  serious  matter, 
and  the  road  to  India  was  still  barred,  but  the  moral  effect  was 
most  unfortunate.  That  the  great  British  nation,  whose  power 
had  been  so  respected  in  the  Orient,  should  now  be  forced  to  yield, 
was  a  great  blow  to  its  prestige.  In  England,  of  course,  there 
was  a  flood  of  criticism.  It  was  very  plain  that  a  mistake  had 
been  made.  A  commission  was  appointed  to  inquire  into  the 
whole  business.  This  committee  reported  to  Parliament  on  June 
26,  1917,  and  the  report  created  a  great  sensation.  The  substance 
of  the  report  was,  that  while  the  expedition  was  justifiable  from  a 
political  point  of  view,  it  was  undertaken  with  insufficient  forces 
and  inadequate  preparation,  and  it  sharply  criticised  those  that 
were  responsible. 

It  seems  plain  that  the  military  authorities  in  India  under- 
estimated their  opponent.  The  report  especially  criticised  General 
Sir  John  Eccles  Nixon,  the  former  commander  of  the  British  forces 
in  Mesopotamia,  who  had  urged  the  expedition,  in  spite  of  the 
objection  of  General  Townshend.  Others  sharing  the  blame  were 
the  Viceroy  of  India,  Baron  Hardinge,  General  Sir  Beauchamp 
Duff,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  British  forces  in  India,  and,  in 
England,  Major-General  Sir  Edmund  Barrow,  Military  Secretary 
of  the  India  office,  J.  Austen  Chamberlain,  Secretary  for  India, 
and  the  War  Committee  of  the  Cabinet.  According  to  the  report, 
beside  the  losses  incurred  by  the  surrender  more  than  twenty- 
three  thousand  men  were  lost  in  the  relieving  expedition.  The 
general  armament  and  equipment  were  declared  to  be  not  only 
insufficient,  but  not  up  to  the  standard. 

In  consequence  of  this  report  Mr.  Chamberlain  resigned  as 
Secretary  for  India.  In  the  House  of  Commons,  Mr.  Balfour, 
Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  supported  Lord  Hardinge,  who,  at 
the  time  of  the  report,  was  Under  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
He  declared  the  criticism  of  Baron  Hardinge  to  be  grossly  unjust. 


THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  MESOPOTAMIA         379 

After  some  discussion  the  House  of  Commons  supported  Mr. 
Balfour's  refusal  to  accept  Baron  Hardinge's  resignation,  by  a  vote 
of  176  to  81.  It  seems  to  be  agreed  that  the  civil  administration 
of  India  were  not  responsible  for  the  blunders  of  the  expedition. 
Ten  years  before,  Lord  Kitchener,  after  a  bitter  controversy  with 
Lord  Curzon,  had  made  the  military  side  of  the  Indian  Govern- 
ment free  of  all  civilian  criticism  and  control.  The  blunders  here 
were  military  blunders. 

The  English,  of  course,  were  not  satisfied  to  leave  the  situation 
in  such  a  condition,  and  at  once  began  their  plans  for  a  new  attempt 
to  capture  Bagdad.  The  summer  campaign,  however,  was  unevent- 
ful, though  on  May  18th  a  band  of  Cossacks  from  the  Russian 
armies  in  Persia  joined  the  British  camp.  A  few  days  afterwards 
the  British  army  went  up  the  Tigris  and  captured  the  Dujailah 
redoubt,  where  they  had  been  so  badly  defeated  on  the  8th  of 
March.  They  then  approached  close  to  Kut,  but  the  weather  was 
unsuitable,  and  there  was  now  no  object  in  capturing  the  city. 

In  August  Sir  Percy  Lake  was  succeeded  by  Lieutenant-General 
Sir  Frederick  Stanley  Maude,  who  carefully  and  thoroughly  pro- 
ceeded to  prepare  for  an  expedition  which  should  capture  Bagdad. 
A  dispatch  from  General  Maude  dated  July  10,  1917,  gives  a  full 
account  of  this  expedition.  It  was  thoroughly  successful.  This 
time  with  a  sufficient  army  and  a  thorough  equipment  the  British 
found  no  difficulties,  and  on  February  26th  they  captured  Kut-el- 
Amara,  not  after  a  hard-fought  battle,  but  as  the  result  of  a  suc- 
cessful series  of  small  engagements.  The  Turks  kept  up  a  steady 
resistance,  but  the  British  blood  was  up.  They  were  remembering 
General  Townshend's  surrender,  and  the  Turks  were  driven  before 
them  in  great  confusion. 

The  capture  of  Kut,  however,  was  not  an  object  hi  itself,  and 
the  British  pushed  steadily  on  up  the  Tigris.  The  Turks  occa- 
sionally made  a  stand,  but  without  effect.  On  the  28th  of  February 
the  English  had  arrived  at  Azizie,  half  way  to  Bagdad,  where  a 
halt  was  made.  On  the  5th  of  March  the  advance  was  renewed. 
The  Ctesiphon  position,  which  had  defied  General  Townshend, 
was  found  to  be  strongly  intrenched,  but  empty.  On  March  7th 
the  enemy  made  a  stand  on  the  River  Diala,  which  enters  the 
Tigris  eight  miles  below  Bagdad.  Some  lively  fighting  followed, 
the  enemy  resisting  four  attempts  to  cross  the  Diala.  However, 


380  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

on  March  10th  the  British  forces  crossed,  and  were  now  close  to 
Bagdad.  The  enemy  suddenly  retired  and  the  British  troops 
found  that  then*  main  opponent  was  a  dust  storm.  The  enemy 
retired  beyond  Bagdad,  and  on  March  llth  the  city  was  occupied 
by  the  English. 

The  fall  of  Bagdad  was  an  important  event.  It  cheered  the 
Allies,  and  proved,  especially  to  the  Oriental  world,  the  power 
of  the  British  army.  Those  who  originally  planned  its  capture 
had  been  right,  but  those  who  were  to  carry  out  the  plan  had  not 
done  their  duty.  Under  General  Maude  it  was  a  comparatively 
simple  operation,  though  full  of  admirable  details,  and  it  produced 
all  the  good  effects  expected.  The  British,  of  course,  did  not  stop 
at  Bagdad.  The  city  itself  is  not  of  strategic  importance.  The 
surrounding  towns  were  occupied  and  an  endeavor  was  made  to 
conciliate  the  inhabitants.  The  real  object  of  the  expedition  was 
attained. 


CANADA'S  PAKT  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR 

BY  COL.  GEO.  G.  NASMITH,  C.  M.  G.,  TORONTO 

WHEN,  in  August,  1914,  war  burst  suddenly  upon  a 
peaceful  world   like  distant   thunder  in  a  cloudless 
summer  sky,   Canada,   like  the  rest  of  the  British 
Empire,  was  profoundly  startled.      She  had  been  a 
peace-loving,  non-military  nation,  satisfied  to  develop  her  great 
natural  resources,  and  live  in  harmony  with  her  neighbors;  taking 
little  interest  in  European  affairs,  Canadians,  in  fact,  were  a  typical 
colonial  people,  with  little  knowledge  even  of  the  strength  of  the 
ties  that  linked  them  to  the  British  Empire. 

Upon  declaration  of  war  by  Great  Britain  Canada  immediately 
sprang  to  arms.  The  love  of  country  and  empire  which  had  been 
no  obvious  thing  burst  forth  in  a  patriotic  fervor  as  deep  as  it  was 
spontaneous  and  genuine.  The  call  to  action  was  answered  with 
an  enthusiasm  the  like  of  which  had  rarely,  if  ever,  been  seen  hi  any 
British  colony. 

The  Canadian  Government  called  for  20,000  volunteers — 
enough  for  a  single  division — as  Canada's  contribution  to  the 
British  army.  In  less  than  a  month  40,000  men  had  volunteered, 
and  the  Minister  of  Militia  was  compelled  to  stop  the  further 
enrolment  of  recruits.  From  the  gold  fields  of  the  Yukon,  from 
the  slopes  of  the  Rockies  on  the  west  to  the  surf-beaten  shores 
of  the  Atlantic  on  the  east;  from  workshop  and  mine;  from  farm, 
office  and  forest,  Canada's  sons  trooped  to  the  colors. 

It  will  be  the  everlasting  glory  of  the  men  of  the  first  Canadian 
contingent,  that  they  needed  no  spur,  either  of  victory  or  defeat: 
they  volunteered  because  they  were  quick  to  perceive  that  the 
existence  of  their  Empire  was  threatened  by  the  action  of  the  most 
formidable  nation-in-arms  that  the  world  had  ever  seen.  They 
had  been  stirred  by  the  deepest  emotion  of  a  race — the  love  of 
country. 

381 


38*  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

A  site  for  a  concentration  camp  was  chosen  at  Valcartier, 
nestling  among  the  blue  Laurentian  hills,  sixteen  miles  from  Quebec, 
and  convenient  to  that  point  of  embarkation.  Within  four  days 
6,000  men  had  arrived  at  Valcartier;  in  another  week  there  were 
25,000  men.  From  centers  all  over  Canada  troop  trains,  each 
carrying  hundreds  of  embryo  soldiers,  sped  towards  Valcartier  and 
deposited  their  burdens  on  the  miles  of  sidings  that  had  sprung  up 
as  though  by  magic. 

The  rapid  evolution  of  that  wild  and  wooded  river  valley  into  a 
model  military  camp  was  a  great  tribute  to  the  engineering  skill  and 
energy  of  civilians  who  had  never  done  the  like  before.  One  day 
an  army  of  woodmen  were  seen  felling  trees;  the  next  day  the 
stumps  were  torn  out  and  the  hollows  filled;  on  the  third  day  long 
rows  of  tents  in  regular  camp  formation  covered  the  ground,  and 
on  the  fourth  day  they  were  occupied  by  civilian  soldiers  concen- 
trated upon  learning  the  rudiments  of  the  art  and  science  of  war. 

Streets  were  laid  out;  miles  of  water  pipes,  sunk  in  machine- 
made  ditches,  were  connected  to  hundreds  of  taps  and  shower 
baths;  electric  light  was  installed;  three  miles  of  rifle  butts  com- 
pleted, and  in  two  weeks  the  camp  was  practically  finished — the 
finest  camp  that  the  first  Canadians  were  destined  to  see.  The 
building  of  Valcartier  camp  was  characteristic  of  the  driving  power, 
vision  and  genius  of  the  Minister  of  Militia,  General  Sir  Sam 
Hughes. 

Of  the  33,000  men  assembled  at- Valcartier,  the  great  majority 
were  civilians  without  any  previous  training  in  warfare.  About 
7,000  Canadians  had  taken  part  hi  the  South  African  war,  fifteen 
years  before,  and  some  of  these,  together  with  a  few  ex-regulars 
who  had  seen  active  service,  were  formed  into  the  Princess  Patricia's 
Light  Infantry.  Otherwise,  with  the  exception  of  the  3,000  regulars 
that  formed  the  standing  army  of  Canada,  the  men  and  most  of  the 
officers  were  amateurs. 

It  was  therefore  a  feat  that  the  Canadian  people  could  well 
afford  to  be  proud  of,  that  in  the  great  crisis  they  were  able,  through 
then-  aggressive  Minister  of  Militia,  not  only  to  gather  up  these 
forces  so  quickly  but  that  they  willingly  and  without  delay  con- 
verted their  industries  to  the  manufacture  of  all  necessary  army 
equipment.  Factories  all  over  the  country  immediately  began 
turning  out  vast  quantities  of  khaki  cloth,  uniforms,  boots,  ammuni- 


CANADA'S  PART  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR       383 

tion,  harness,  wagons,  and  the  thousand  and  one  articles  necessary 
for  an  army. 

Before  the  end  of  September,  1914,  the  Canadian  Expeditionary 
Force  had  been  roughly  hewn  into  shape,  battalions  had  been 
regrouped  and  remodeled,  officers  transferred  and  re-transferred, 
intensive  training  carried  on,  and  all  the  necessary  equipment 
assembled.  On  October  3,  1914,  thirty-three  Atlantic  liners, 
carrying  the  contingent  of  33,000  men,  comprising  infantry,  artillery, 
cavalry,  engineers,  signalers,  medical  corps,  army  service  supply 
and  ammunition  columns,  together  with  horses,  guns,  ammunition, 
wagons,  motor  lorries  and  other  essentials,  sailed  from  Gaspe"  basin 
on  the  Quebec  seaboard  to  the  battle-field  of  Europe. 

It  was  probably  the  largest  convoy  that  had  ever  been  gathered 
together.  This  modern  armada  in  three  long  lines,  each  line  one 
and  one-half  miles  apart,  led  by  cruisers  and  with  battleships  on 
the  front,  rear  and  either  flank,  presented  a  thrilling  spectacle. 
The  voyage  proved  uneventful,  and  on  October  14th,  the  convoy 
steamed  into  Plymouth,  receiving  an  extraordinary  ovation  by 
the  sober  English  people,  who  seemed  temporarily  to  have  gone 
wild  with  enthusiasm.  Back  of  that  demonstration  was  the  con- 
viction that  blood  had  proved  thicker  than  water  and  that  the 
apparently  flimsy  ties  that  bound  the  colonies  to  the  empire  were 
bonds  that  were  unbreakable.  The  German  conviction  that  the 
British  colonies  would  fall  away  and  the  British  Empire  disintegrate 
upon  the  outbreak  of  a  great  war  had  proved  fallacious.  It  was, 
moreover,  a  great  demonstration  of  how  the  much-vaunted  German 
navy  had  already  been  swept  from  the  seas  and  rendered  impotent 
by  the  might  of  Britain's  fleet. 

A  few  days  later  the  Canadians  had  settled  down  on  Salisbury 
Plain  in  southern  England  for  the  further  course  of  training  neces- 
sary before  proceeding  to  France.  There,  for  nearly  four  months 
hi  the  cold  and  the  wet,  in  the  fog  and  mud,  in  crowded,  dripping 
tents  and  under  constantly  dripping  skies,  they  carried  on  and 
early  gave  evidence  of  their  powers  of  endurance  and  unquenchable 
spirit. 

Lord  Roberts  made  his  last  public  appearance  before  this 
division  and  addressing  the  men  said  in  part:  "Three  months 
ago  we  found  ourselves  involved  in  this  war — a  war  not  of  our 
own  seeking,  but  one  which  those  who  have  studied  Germany's 


384  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

literature  and  Germany's  aspirations,  knew  was  a  war  which  we 
should  inevitably  have  to  deal  with  sooner  or  later.  The  prompt 
resolve  of  Canada  to  give  us  such  valuable  assistance  has  touched 

us  deeply.     .     .     . 

"We  are  fighting  a  nation  which  looks  upon  the  British  Empire 
as  a  barrier  to  her  development,  and  has  hi  consequence,  long 
contemplated  our  overthrow  and  humiliation.  To  attain  that  end 
she  has  manufactured  a  magnificent  fighting  machine,  and  is  strain- 
ing every  nerve  to  gain  victory.  .  .  .  It  is  only  by  the  most 
determined  efforts  that  we  can  defeat  her." 

And  this  superb  German  military  organization,  created  by 
years  of  tireless  effort,  was  that  which  Canadian  civilians  had  volun- 
teered to  fight.  Was  it  any  wonder  that  some  of  the  most  able 
leaders  doubted  whether  men  and  officers,  no  matter  how  brave 
and  intelligent,  could  ever  equal  the  inspired  barbarians  who,  even 
at  that  very  moment,  were  battling  with  the  finest  British  and 
French  regulars  and  pressing  them  steadily  towards  Paris? 

In  a  short  chapter  of  this  kind  attempting  to  deal  with  Canada's 
effort  in  the  great  war  it  is  obviously  impossible  to  go  into  detail 
or  give  more  than  the  briefest  of  historical  pictures.  Consequently 
much  that  is  fascinating  can  be  given  but  a  passing  glance:  for 
greater  detail  larger  works  must  be  consulted.  Nevertheless  it  is 
well  to  try  and  view  in  perspective  events  as  they  occurred,  in 
order  to  obtain  some  idea  of  then*  relative  importance. 

In  February,  1915,  the  first  Canadian  division  crossed  the 
Channel  to  France,  and  began  to  obtain  front-line  experiences  hi  a 
section  of  the  line  just  north  of  Neuve  Chapelle. 

While  the  first  division  had  been  going  through  its  course  of 
training  hi  England  a  second  division  had  been  raised  in  Canada 
and  arrived  in  England  shortly  after  the  first  left  it. 

During  that  period  the  conflict  in  Europe  had  passed  through 
certain  preliminary  phases — most  of  them  fortunate  for  the  Allies. 
The  unexpected  holding  up  of  the  German  armies  by  the  Belgians 
had  prevented  the  enemy  from  gaining  the  channel  ports  of  Calais 
and  Boulogne  in  the  first  rush.  Later  on  the  battle  of  the  Marne 
had  resulted  in  the  rolling  back  of  the  German  waves  until  they 
had  subsided  on  a  line  roughly  drawn  through  Dixmude,  Ypres, 
Annentieres,  La  Basse"e,  Lens,  and  southward  to  the  French  border 
and  the  trench  phase  of  warfare  had  begun. 


ON  VIMY  RIDGE,  WHERE  CANADA  WON  LAURELS 
The  Canadians  took  the  important  position  of  Vimy  Ridge  on  Easter  Monday. 
April  9?  1917      They  advanced  'with  brilliance    having  taken  the  whote  system  o 
German  front-line  trenches  between  dawn  and  6.30  A.  M.      This  fn°f""trv  On  the 
machine  gunners  operating  from  shell-craters  m  support  of  the  infantry  o 
plateau  above  the  ridge. 


Photo  from  Western  Newspaper  Union 

GENERAL   SIR  ARTHUR   CURRIE 
Commander  of  the  Canadian  forces  on  the  Western  Front 


CANADA'S  PART  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR       387 

The  British  held  the  section  of  front  between  Ypres  and 
La-Basse"e,  about  thirty  miles  in  length,  the  Germans,  unfortunately, 
occupying  all  the  higher  grounds. 

Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  Canadian  division  the  British, 
concentrating  the  largest  number  of  guns  that  had  hitherto  been 
gathered  together  on  the  French  front,  made  an  attack  on  the 
Germans  at  Neuve  Chapelle.  This  attack,  only  partially  successful 
in  gains  of  terrain,  served  to  teach  both  belligerents  several  lessons. 
It  showed  the  British  the  need  for  huge  quantities  of  high  explosives 
with  which  to  blast  away  wire  and  trenches  and,  that  in  an  attack, 
rifle  fire,  no  matter  how  accurate,  was  no  match  for  unlimited 
numbers  of  machine  guns. 

It  showed  the  enemy  what  could  be  done  with  concentrated 
artillery  fire — a  lesson  that  he  availed  himself  of  with  deadly  effect 
a  few  weeks  later. 

Though  Canadian  artillery  took  part  hi  that  bombardment 
the  infantry  was  not  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Neuve  Chapelle;  it 
received  its  baptism  of  fire,  however,  under  excellent  conditions, 
and  after  a  month's  experience  in  trench  warfare  was  taken  out  of 
the  line  for  rest. 

The  division  was  at  the  time  under  the  command  of  a  British 
general  and  the  staff  included  several  highly  trained  British  staff 
officers.  Nevertheless  the  commands  were  practically  all  in  the 
hands  of  Canadians — lawyers,  business  men,  real-estate  agents, 
newspapermen  and  other  amateur  soldiers,  who,  hi  civilian  life  as 
militiamen,  had  spent  more  or  less  time  hi  the  study  of  the  theory 
of  wrarfare.  This  should  always  be  kept  in  mind  hi  view  of  subse- 
quent events,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  these  amateur  soldiers  were 
faced  by  armies  whose  officers  and  men — professionals  in  the  art 
and  science  of  warfare — regarded  themselves  as  invincible. 

In  mid-April  the  Canadians  took  over  a  sector  some  five 
thousand  yards  long  in  the  Ypres  salient.  On  the  left  they  joined 
up  with  French  colonial  troops,  and  on  their  right  with  the  British. 
Thus  there  were  Canadian  and  French  colonial  troops  side  by  side. 

Toward  the  end  of  April  the  Germans  reverted  to  supreme 
barbarism  and  used  poison  gas.  Undismayed,  though  suffering 
terrible  losses,  the  heroic  Canadians  fought  the  second  battle  of 
Ypres  and  held  the  line  in  the  face  of  the  most  terrific  assaults. 

When  the  news  of  the  second  battle  of  Ypres  reached  Canada 


388  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

her  people  were  profoundly  stirred.  The  blight  of  war  had  at  last 
fallen  heavily,  destroying  her  first-born,  but  sorrow  was  mixed  with 
pride  and  exaltation  that  Canadian  men  had  proved  a  match  for 
the  most  scientifically  trained  troops  hi  Europe.  As  fighters 
Canadians  had  at  once  leaped  into  front  rank.  British,  Scotch 
and  Irish  blood,  with  British  traditions,  had  proved  greater  forces 
than  the  scientific  training  and  philosophic  principles  of  the  Huns. 
It  was  a  glorious  illustration  of  the  axiom  "right  is  greater  than 
might,"  which  the  German  had  in  his  pride  reversed  to  read  "might 
is  right."  It  was  prophetic  of  what  the  final  issue  of  a  contest  based 
on  such  divergent  principles  was  to  be.  So  in  those  days  Canadian 
men  and  women  held  their  heads  higher  and  carried  on  their  war 
work  with  increased  determination,  stimulated  by  the  knowledge 
that  they  were  contending  with  an  enemy  more  remorseless  and 
implacable  than  those  terrible  creatures  which  used  to  come  to 
them  in  their  childish  dreams.  It  was  felt  that,  a  nation  which 
could  scientifically  and  in  cold  blood  resort  to  poison  gases — 
contrary  to  all  accepted  agreements  of  civilized  countries — to  gain 
its  object  must  be  fought  with  all  the  determination,  resources  and 
skill  which  it  was  possible  to  employ. 

Canada's  heart  had  been  steeled.  She  was  now  in  the  war 
with  her  last  dollar  and  her  last  man  if  need  be.  She  had  begun 
to  realize  that  failure  in  Europe  would  simply  transfer  the  struggle 
with  the  German  fighting  hordes  to  our  Atlantic  provinces  and 
the  eastern  American  states. 

The  famous  Princess  Patricia's  Canadian  Light  Infantry  was 
originally  composed  of  soldiers  who  had  actually  seen  service  and 
were  therefore  veterans.  Incidentally  they  were  older  men  and 
most  of  them  were  married  but  the  call  of  the  Empire  was  insistent. 

In  the  winter  of  1914-15  the  British  line  in  Flanders  was 
very  thin  and  the  P.  P.  C.  L.  I's.  being  a  trained  regiment  was  sent 
over  to  France  several  weeks  before  the  first  Canadian  division. 
It  soon  earned  the  name  of  a  regiment  of  extraordinarily  hard- 
fighting  qualities  and  was  all  but  wiped  out  before  spring  arrived. 
Fhe  immortal  story  of  this  gallant  unit  must  be  read  in  detail  if 
one  wishes  to  obtain  any  clear  conception  of  then-  deeds  of  valor— 
of  what  it  is  possible  for  man  to  go  through  and  live.  However,  it 
was  but  one  regiment  whose  exploits  were  later  equaled  by  other 
Canadian  regiments  and  it  would  therefore  be  invidious  to  select 


CANADA'S  PART  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR   389 

any  one  for  special  praise.  After  operating  as  a  separate  regiment 
for  nearly  two  years  and  having  been  recruited  from  the  regular 
Canadian  depots  hi  England,  it  became  hi  composition  like  other 
Canadian  regiments  and  was  finally  incorporated  in  the  third 
Canadian  division. 

In  the  spring  of  1915,  a  Canadian  cavalry  brigade  was  formed 
hi  France  made  up  of  Strathcona's  Horse,  King  Edward's  Horse, 
the  Royal  Canadian  Dragoons  and  Canadian  Mounted  Rifles. 

After  the  second  battle  of  Ypres,  the  Canadians  after  resting 
and  re-organization,  were  moved  to  a  section  of  the  line  near 
LaBassee.  Here  they  fought  the  battle  of  Festubert — a  series  of 
infantry  attacks  and  artillery  bombardments,  which  gamed  little 
ground. 

Shortly  afterwards  they  fought  the  battle  of  Givenchy,  equally 
futile,  as  far  as  material  results  were  concerned.  Both  of  these 
battles  had  the  double  object  of  feeling  out  the  strength  of  the 
German  line  and  of  obtaining  the  Aubers  Ridge,  should  the  attacks 
prove  successful.  In  both  battles  the  Canadians  showed  great 
aptitude  for  attack,  and  tenacity  in  their  hold  of  captured  trenches. 
They  also  learned  the  difficult  lesson  that  if  an  objective  is  passed 
by  the  infantry  the  latter  enter  the  zone  of  their  own  artillery  fire 
and  suffer  accordingly. 

In  September,  1915,  the  Second  Canadian  Division  arrived 
in  Flanders  and  took  its  place  at  the  side  of  the  First  Canadian 
Division,  then  occupying  the  Ploegsteert  section  in  front  of  the 
Messines-Wytschaete  Ridge.  The  rest  of  the  winter  was  spent 
more  or  less  quietly  by  both  divisions  hi  the  usual  trench  warfare, 
and  battling  with  mud,  water  and  weather. 

It  was  here  that  the  Canadians  evolved  the  "  trench  raid," 
a  method  of  cutting  off  a  section  of  enemy  trench,  killing  or  taking 
prisoners  all  the  enemy  inhabitants,  destroying  it  and  returning 
with  little  or  no  loss  to  the  attacking  party.  This  method  was 
quickly  copied  from  one  end  of  the  Franco-British  line  to  the 
other;  it  proved  a  most  valuable  method  of  gaining  information, 
and  served  to  keep  the  troops,  during  the  long  cold  winter  months, 
stimulated  and  keen  when  otherwise  life  would  have  proved  most 
dull  and  uninteresting. 

The  Third  Canadian  Division  was  formed  hi  January  and 
February,  1916.  One  infantry  brigade  was  composed  of  regiments 


390  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

which  had  been  acting  as  Canadian  corps  troops,  including  the 
Princess  Patricia's  Canadian  Light  Infantry,  and  the  Royal 
Canadian  Regiment.  The  second  infantry  brigade  was  made 
up  of  six  Canadian  mounted  rifle  regiments,  which  had  com- 
prised part  of  the  cavalry  brigade.  These  two  brigades,  of  the 
Third  Division,  under  the  command  of  General  Mercer  of  Toronto, 
almost  immediately  began  front-line  work. 

During  this  period,  the  Germans,  making  desperate  efforts 
extending  over  weeks  of  time,  did  their  utmost  to  break  through 
the  French  line  at  Verdun  and  exhaust  the  French  reserves.  To 
offset  these  objects,  a  fourth  British  army  was  assembled,  which 
took  over  still  more  of  the  French  line,  while  a  series  of  British 
attacks,  intended  to  pin  down  the  German  reserves  all  along  the 
line,  was  inaugurated.  One  of  these  developed  into  a  fight  for  the 
craters — a  terrible  struggle  at  St.  Eloi,  where,  blasted  from  their 
muddy  ditches,  with  rifles  and  machine  guns  choked  with  mud 
and  water;  with  communications  lost  and  lack  of  artillery  support, 
the  men  of  the  Second  Canadian  Division  fought  gamely  from 
April  6th  to  April  20th,  but  were  forced  to  yield  the  craters  and 
part  of  their  front  line  system  to  the  enemy. 

Notwithstanding  this  the  men  of  the  Second  Canadian  Division 
at  St.  Eloi  fought  quite  as  nobly  as  had  their  brothers  of  the  First 
Division  just  a  year  before,  at  the  glorious  battle  of  Ypres,  a  few 
miles  farther  north.  But  it  was  a  bitter  experience.  The  lesson  of 
failure  is  as  necessary  hi  the  education  of  a  nation  as  that  of  success. 

On  June  2d  and  3d,  the  Third  Canadian  Division,  which  then 
occupied  part  of  the  line  in  the  Ypres  salient,  including  Hooge 
and  Sanctuary  Wood,  was  smothered  by  an  artillery  bombardment 
unprecedented  in  length  and  intensity.  Trenches  melted  into 
irregular  heaps  of  splintered  wood,  broken  sand  bags  and  mangled 
bodies.  Fighting  gallantly  the  men  of  this  division  fell  in  large 
numbers,  where  they  stood.  The  best  infantry  in  the  world  is  power- 
less against  avalanches  of  shells  projected  from  greatly  superior 
numbers  of  guns.  The  Canadian  trenches  were  obliterated,  not 
captured. 

By  this  time  Britain  had  thoroughly  learned  her  lesson,  and 
now  countless  shells  and  guns  were  pouring  into  France  from 
Great  Britain  where  thousands  of  factories,  new  and  old,  toiled 
night  and  day,  under  the  inspiring  energy  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George. 


CANADA'S  PART  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR   391 

On  June  13th,  in  a  terrific  counter-attack,  the  Canadians  in 
turn  blasted  the  Huns  from  the  trenches  taken  from  them  a  few 
days  before.  The  First  Canadian  Division  recaptured  and  con- 
solidated all  the  ground  and  trench  systems  that  had  been  lost 
Thus  ended  the  second  year  of  Canadian  military  operations  hi  the 
Ypres  salient  Each  of  the  three  Canadian  divisions  had  been 
tried  by  fire  in  that  terrible  region,  from  which,  it  was  said,  no 
man  ever  returned  the  same  as  he  entered  it.  Beneath  its  torn  and 
rifted  surface,  thousands  of  Canadians  lie,  mute  testimony  to  the 
fact  that  love  of  liberty  is  still  one  of  the  most  powerful,  yet  most 
intangible,  things  that  man  is  swayed  by. 

A  very  distinguished  French  general,  speaking  of  the  part 
that  Canada  was  playing  in  the  war,  said,  "Nothing  in  the  history 
of  the  world  has  ever  been  known  quite  like  it.  My  countrymen 
are  fighting  within  fifty  miles  of  Paris,  to  push  back  and  chastise 
a  vile  and  leprous  race,  which  has  violated  the  chastity  of  beautiful 
France,  but  the  Australians  at  the  Dardanelles  and  the  Canadians 
at  Ypres,  fought  with  supreme  and  absolute  devotion  for  what  to 
many  must  have  seemed  simple  abstractions,  and  that  nation 
which  will  support  for  an  abstraction  the  horror  of  this  war  of  all 
wars  will  ever  hold  the  highest  place  in  the  records  of  human 
valor." 

The  Fourth  Canadian  Division  reached  the  Ypres  region  in 
August,  1916,  just  as  the  other  three  Canadian  divisions  were 
leaving  for  the  Sonune  battle-field  farther  south.  For  a  while  it 
occupied  part  of  the  line  near  Kemmel,  but  soon  followed  the  other 
divisions  to  the  Somme,  there  to  complete  the  Canadian  corps. 

It  may  be  stated  here  that  though  a  fifth  Canadian  division 
was  formed  and  thoroughly  trained  in  England,  it  never  reached 
France.  Canada,  until  the  passing  of  the  Military  Service  Act 
on  July  6, 1917,  depended  solely  on  voluntary  enlistment.  Up  to 
that  time  Canada,  with  a  population  of  less  than  9,000,000,  had 
recruited  525,000  men  by  voluntary  methods.  Of  this  number 
356,986  had  actually  gone  overseas.  Voluntary  methods  at  last, 
however,  failed  to  supply  drafts  in  sufficient  numbers  to  keep  up 
the  strength  of  the  depleted  reserves  in  England,  and  in  consequence 
conscription  was  decided  upon.  By  this  means,  56,000  men  were 
drafted  in  Canada  before  the  war  ended.  In  the  meantime,  through 
heavy  fighting  the  demand  for  drafts  became  so  insistent  that  the 


392  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Fifth  Canadian  Division  in  England  had  to  be  broken  up  to  rein- 
force the  exhausted  fighting  divisions  in  France. 

It  would  be  an  incomplete  summary  of  Canada's  part  in  the 
war  that  did  not  mention  some  of  the  men  who  have  been  responsible 
for  the  success  of  Canadian  arms.  It  is  obviously  impossible  to 
mention  all  of  those  responsible;  it  is  even  harder  to  select  a  few. 
But  looking  backward  one  sees  two  figures  that  stand  forth  from 
all  the  rest — General  Sir  Sam  Hughes  in  Canada,  and  General  Sir 
Arthur  Currie  commander  of  the  Canadian  corps. 

To  General  Sir  Sam  Hughes  must  be  given  the  credit  of  having 
foreseen  war  with  Germany  and  making  such  preparations  as  were 
possible  hi  a  democracy  like  Canada.  He  it  was  of  all  others  who 
galvanized  Canada  into  action;  he  it  was  whose  enthusiasm  and 
driving  power  were  so  contagious  that  they  affected  not  only 
his  subordinates  but  the  country  at  large. 

Sir  Sam  Hughes  will  be  remembered  for  the  building  of 
Valcartier  camp  and  the  dispatch  of  the  first  Canadian  contingent. 
But  he  did  things  of  just  as  great  importance.  It  was  he  who 
sought  and  obtained  for  Canada,  huge  orders  for  munitions  from 
Great  Britain  and  thereby  made  it  possible  for  Canada  to  weather 
the  financial  depression,  pay  her  own  war  expenditures  and  emerge 
from  the  war  in  better  financial  shape  than  she  was  when  the  war 
broke  out.  It  was  easy  to  build  up  a  business  once  established  but 
the  chief  credit  must  go  to  the  man  who  established  it. 

Sir  Sam  Hughes  was  also  responsible  for  the  selection  of  the 
officers  who  went  overseas  with  the  first  Canadian  contingent. 
Among  those  officers  who  subsequently  became  divisional  command- 
ers were  General  Sir  Arthur  Currie,  General  Sir  Richard  Turner, 
General  Sir  David  Watson,  Generals  Lipsett,  Mercer  and  Hughes. 

Of  these  generals,  Sir  Arthur  Currie  through  sheer  ability 
ultimately  became  commander  of  the  Canadian  corps.  This  big, 
quiet  man,  whose  consideration,  prudence  and  brilliancy  had  won 
the  absolute  confidence  of  Canadian  officers  and  men  alike,  welded 
the  Canadian  corps  into  a  fighting  force  of  incomparable  effective- 
ness—a force  which  was  set  the  most  difficult  tasks  and,  as  events 
proved,  not  in  vain. 

When  Canada  entered  the  war  she  had  a  permanent  force 
of  3,000  men.  When  hostilities  ceased  on  November  11,  1918, 
Canada  had  sent  overseas  418,980  soldiers.  In  addition  to  this 


CANADA'S  PART  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR       393 

about  15,000  men  had  joined  the  British  Royal  Air  Service,  several 
hundred  physicians  and  veterinarians,  as  well  as  200  nurses,  had 
been  supplied  to  the  British  army,  while  many  hundreds  of  uni- 
versity men  had  received  commissions  hi  the  imperial  army  and 
navy. 

In  September,  October  and  November,  1916,  the  Canadian 
corps  of  four  divisions,  which  had  been  welded  by  General  Byng 
and  General  Currie  into  an  exceedingly  efficient  fighting  machine, 
took  its  part  in  the  battle  of  the  Somme — a  battle  in  which  the 
British  army  assumed  the  heaviest  share  of  the  fighting  and 
casualties,  and  shifted  the  greatest  burden  of  the  struggle  from 
the  shoulders  of  the  French  to  their  own.  The  British  army  had 
grown  vastly  in  power  and  efficiency  and  in  growing  had  taken  over 
more  and  more  of  the  line  from  the  French. 

The  battle  of  the  Somme  was  long  and  involved.  The  Franco- 
British  forces  were  everywhere  victorious  and  by  hard  and  con- 
tinuous fighting  forced  the  Hun  back  to  the  famous  Hindenburg 
line.  It  was  in  this  battle  that  the  tanks,  evolved  by  the  British, 
were  used  for  the  first  tune,  and  played  a  most  important  part  in 
breaking  down  wire  entanglements  and  rounding  up  the  machine 
gun  nests.  The  part  played  in  this  battle  by  the  Canadian  corps 
was  conspicuous,  and  it  especially  distinguished  itself  by  the  capture 
of  Courcelette.  Although  the  battles  which  the  Canadian  corps 
took  part  in  subsequently  were  almost  invariably  both  successful 
and  important,  they  can  be  merely  mentioned  here.  The  Canadian 
corps  now  known  everywhere  to  consist  of  shock  troops  second 
to  none  on  the  western  front,  was  frequently  used  as  the  spearhead 
with  which  to  pierce  particularly  tough  parts  of  the  enemy  defenses. 

On  April  9th  to  13th,  1917,  the  Canadian  corps,  with  some 
British  support,  captured  Vimy  Ridge,  a  point  which  had  hitherto 
proved  invulnerable.  When  a  year  later,  the  Germans,  north  and 
south,  swept  the  British  line  to  one  side  hi  gigantic  thrusts  they 
were  unable  to  disturb  this  key  point,  Vimy  Ridge,  which  served 
as  an  anchor  to  the  sagging  line.  The  Canadian  corps  was  engaged 
at  Arleux  and  Fresnoy  in  April  and  May  and  was  effective  hi  the 
operations  around  Lens  in  June.  Again  on  August  15th,  it  was 
engaged  at  Hill  70  and  fought  with  conspicuous  success  in  that 
toughest,  most  difficult,  and  most  heart-breaking  of  all  battles— 
Passchendaele. 


394  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

In  1918,  the  Canadian  Cavalry  Brigade  won  distinction  in 
the  German  offensive  of  March  and  April.  On  August  12,  1918, 
the  Canadian  corps  was  engaged  in  the  brilliantly  successful 
battle  of  Amiens,  which  completely  upset  the  German  offensive 
plan.  On  August  26th  to  28th  the  Canadians  captured  Monchy- 
le-Preux,  and,  in  one  of  the  hammer  blows  which  Foch  rained  on  the 
German  front,  were  given  the  most  difficult  piece  of  the  whole  line 
to  pierce — the  Queant-Drocourt  line.  This  section  of  the  famous 
Hindenburg  line  was  considered  by  the  enemy  to  be  absolutely 
impregnable,  but  was  captured  by  the  Canadians  on  September 
3d  and  4th.  With  this  line  outflanked  a  vast  German  retreat  began, 
which  ended  on  November  llth  with  the  signing  of  the  armistice. 

To  the  Canadians  fell  the  honors  of  breaking  through  the 
first  Hindenburg  line  by  the  capture  of  Cambrai,  on  October  1st  to 
9th.  They  also  took  Douai  on  October  19th,  and  Dena  on  October 
20th.  On  October  26th  to  November  2d  they  had  the  signal  honor  of 
capturing  Valenciennes  thereby  being  the  first  troops  to  break 
through  the  fourth  and  last  Hindenberg  line. 

It  surely  was  a  curious  coincidence  that  Mons,  from  which 
the  original  British  army — the  best  trained,  it  is  said,  that  has 
taken  the  field  since  the  tune  of  Caesar — began  its  retreat  hi  1914, 
should  have  been  the  town  which  Canadian  civilians  were  destined 
to  recapture.  The  war  began  for  the  professional  British  army— 
the  Contemptibles — when  it  began  its  retreat  from  Mons  in  1914; 
the  war  ended  for  the  British  army  at  the  very  same  town  four 
years  and  three  months  later,  when  on  the  day  the  armistice  was 
signed  the  men  from  Canada  re-entered  it.  Was  it  coincidence,  or 
was  it  fate? 

During  the  war  Canadian  troops  had  sustained  211,000 
casualties,  152,000  had  been  wounded  and  more  than  50,000  had 
made  the  supreme  sacrifice.  Put  into  different  language  this  means 
that  the  number  of  Canadians  killed  was  just  a  little  greater  than 
the  total  number  of  infantrymen  in  their  corps  of  four  divisions. 

The  extent  of  the  work  involved  in  the  care  of  the  wounded 
and  sick  of  the  Canadians  overseas  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  Canada  equipped  and  sent  across  the  Atlantic,  7  general 
hospitals,  10  stationary  hospitals,  16  field  ambulances,  3  sanitary 
sections,  4  casualty  clearing  stations  and  advanced  and  base  depots 
of  medical  stores:  The  personnel  of  these  medical  units  consisted 


CANADA'S  PART  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR   395 


FROM  THE  VOSGES  MOUNTAINS  TO  YPRES 
Map  showing  the  Northeastern  frontiers  of  France,  and  neutral  Belgium 
through  which  the  German  armies  poured  in  1914.  The  battle  line  Tield 
straight  from  Belfort  to  Verdun,  with  the  exception  of  the  St.  Mihiel  salient. 
Above  Verdun  the  line  veered  to  the  west,  north  of  Rheims,  marking  a  wide 
curve  toward  St.  Quentin  and  Arras  and  bending  back  to  Ypres,  held  by  the 
Canadians  throughout  the  war. 


396  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

of  1,612  officers,  1,994  nursing  sisters  and  12,382  of  other  ranks,  or 
a  total  of  about  16,000.  This  will  give  some  conception  of  the 
importance  of  the  task  involved  hi  the  caring  for  the  sick  and 
wounded  of  about  90,000  fighting  troops,  some  60,000  auxiliary 
troops  behind  the  lines  and  the  reserve  depots  in  England. 

The  work  of  the  Canadian  Red  Cross  Society  included  the 
building  and  equipping  of  auxiliary  hospitals  to  those  of  the  Cana- 
dian Army  Medical  Corps;  providing  of  extra  and  emergency  stores 
of  all  kinds,  recreation  huts,  ambulances  and  lorries,  drugs,  serums 
and  surgical  equipment  calculated  to  make  hospitals  more  efficient ; 
the  looking  after  the  comfort  of  patients  in  hospitals  providing 
recreation  and  entertainment  to  the  wounded,  and  dispatching 
regularly  to  every  Canadian  prisoner  parcels  of  food,  as  well  as 
clothes,  books  and  other  necessaries:  The  Canadian  Red  Cross 
expended  on  goods  for  prisoners  in  1917  nearly  $600,000. 

In  all  the  Canadian  Red  Cross  distributed  since  the  beginning 
of  the  war  to  November  23,  1918,  $7,631,100. 

The  approximate  total  of  voluntary  contributions  from 
Canada  for  war  purposes  was  over  $90,000,000. 

The  following  figures  quoted  from  tables  issued  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Information  at  Ottawa,  show  the  exports  in  certain 
Canadian  commodities,  having  a  direct  bearing  on  the  war  for  the 
last  three  fiscal  years  before  the  war  (1912-13-14),  and  for  the 
last  fiscal  year  (1918);  and  illustrates  the  increase,  during  this 
period,  in  the  value  of  these  articles  exported : 

VALUES 

Average  for  1912-191S-1914  1918 

Foodstuffs $143,133,374  $617,515,690 

Clothing,  metals,  leather,  etc 45,822,717  215,873,357 

Total $188,956,091          $833,389,047 

As  practically  all  of  the  increase  of  food  and  other  materials 
went  to  Great  Britain,  France  and  Italy,  the  extent  of  Canada's 
effort  in  upholding  the  allied  cause  is  clearly  evident  and  was  by  no 
means  a  small  one. 

The  trade  of  Canada  for  1914  was  one  billion  dollars;  for 
the  fiscal  year  of  1917-18  it  was  two  and  one-half  billion  dollars. 

Approximately  60,000,000  shells  were  made  in  Canada  during 
the  war.  Shortly  after  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  a  shell  com- 


CANADA'S  PART  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR   397 


mittee  was  formed  in  Canada  to  really  act  as  an  agent  for  the 
British  war  office  in  placing  contracts.  The  first  shells  were 
shipped  in  December,  1914,  and  by  the  end  of  May,  1915,  approxi- 
mately 400  establishments  were  manufacturing  shells  in  Canada. 
By  November,  1915,  orders  had  been  placed  by  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment to  the  value  of  $300,000,000,  and  an  Imperial  Munitions 
Board,  replacing  the  shell  committee,  was  formed,  directly 
responsible  to  the  Imperial  Ministry  of  Munitions. 

During  the  war  period  Canada  purchased  from  her  bank 
savings  $1,669,381,000  of  Canadian  war  loans. 

Estimates  of  expenditures  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  March 
31,  1919,  demonstrated  the  thoroughness  with  which  Canada  went 
to  war.  They  follow: 


Pay  of  110,000  troops  in  Canada  and 
290,000  in  England  and  France. . . 

Assigned  pay,  overseas  troops 

Separation  allowances 

Rations,  Canada,  50  cents  per  day; 
England,  38  J^  cents  per  day 

Clothing  and  necessaries 

Outfit  allowances,  officers  and  nurses . . 

Equipment,  including  harness,  vehicles, 
tents,  blankets,  but  not  rifles, 
machine  guns,  etc 

Ordnance  service 

Medical  services 

Ammunition 

Machine  guns 

Ocean  transport 

Railway  transport 

Forage 

Veterinary  service,  remounts 

Engineer  works,  housing 

Civilian  employese 

Sundries,  including  recruiting,  censors, 
customs  dues,  etc 

Overseas  printing  and  stationery 

General  expenses  overseas 

Maintenance  of  troops  in  France  at 
9s.  4d.  each  per  day 


Expenditure 
in  Canada. 

$50,187,500 
54,000,000 
21,750,000 

20,075,000 

19,080,000 

1,000,000 


Expenditure 
Overseas. 

$70,312,500 


6,000,000 

21,000,000 

700,000 


Total 

Expenditures. 

$120,500,000 
64,000,000 
27,750,000 

41,075,000 

19,080,000 

1,700,000 


20,000,000 

20,000,000 

1,800,000 

1,800,000 

6,000,000 

6,000,000 

6,000,000 

6,000,000 

2,000,000 

2,000,000 

4,612,500 

4,612,500 

11,062,500 

450,000 

11,512,500 

450,000 

450,000 

3,000,000 

3,000,000 

2,750,000 

1,250,000 

4,000,000 

2,920,000 

750,000 

3,670,000 

3,000,000 

3,000,000 

300,000 

300,000 

1,800,000 

1,800,000 

115,000,000 

115,000,000 

$217,887,500 

$225,162,500 

$443,050,000 

IMMORTAL  VERDUN  \ 

FRANCE  was  revealed  to  herself,  to  Germany  and  to  the 
world  as  the  heroic  defender  of  civilization,  as  a  defender 
defying  death  in  the  victory  of  Verdun.     There,  with  the 
gateway  to  Paris  lying  open  at  its  back,  the  French  army, 
in  the  longest  pitched  battle  hi  all  history,  held  like  a  cold  blue 
rock  against  the  uttermost  man  power  and  resources  of  the  German 
army. 

General  von  Falkenhayn,  Chief  of  the  German  General  Staff 
and  military  dictator  of  the  Teutonic  allies,  there  met  disaster  and 
disgrace.  There  the  mettle  of  the  Crown  Prince  was  tested  and  he 
was  found  to  be  merely  a  thing  of  straw,  a  weak  creature  whose 
mind  was  under  the  domination  of  von  Falkenhayn. 

For  the  tremendous  offensive  which  was  planned  to  end  the 
wa*  by  one  terrific  thrust,  von  Falkenhayn  had  robbed  all  the 
other  fronts  of  effective  men  and  munitions.  Field  Marshal  von 
Hindenburg  and  his  crafty  Chief  of  Staff,  General  Ludendorf,  had 
planned  a  campaign  against  Russia  designed  to  put  that  tottering 
military  Colossus  out  of  the  war.  The  plans  were  upon  a  scale 
that  might  well  have  proved  successful.  The  Kaiser,  influenced 
by  the  Crown  Prince  and  by  von  Falkenhayn,  decreed  that  the 
Russian  campaign  must  be  postponed  and  that  von  Hindenburg 
must  send  his  crack  troops  to  join  the  army  of  the  Crown  Prince 
fronting  Verdun.  Ludendorf  promptly  resigned  as  Chief  of  Staff 
to  von  Hindenburg  and  suggested  that  the  Field  Marshal  also 
resign.  That  grim  old  warrior  declined  to  take  this  action,  pre- 
ferring to  remain  idle  in  East  Prussia  and  watch  what  he  predicted 
would  be  a  useless  effort  on  the  western  front.  His  warning  to  the 
General  Staff  was  explicit,  but  von  Falkenhayn  coolly  ignored  the 
message. 

Why  did  Germany  select  this  particular  point  for  its  grand 
offensive?  The  answer  is  to  be  found  in  a  demand  made  by  the 
great  Junker  associations  of  Germany  in  May,  1915,  nine  months 

398 


IMMORTAL  VERDUN 


399 


IMMORTAL  VERDUN,  WHERE  THE  FRENCH  HELD  THE  GERMANS  WITH 
THE  INSPIRING  SLOGAN  "THEY  SHALL  NOT  PASS" 


400  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

before  the  attack  was  undertaken.  That  demand  was  to  the  effect 
that  Verdun  should  be  attacked  and  captured.  They  declared  that 
the  Verdun  fortifications  made  a  menacing  salient  thrust  into  the 
rich  iron  fields  of  the  Briey  basin.  From  this  metalliferous  field 
of  Lorraine  came  the  ore  that  supplied  eighty  per  cent  of  the  steel 
required  for  German  and  Austrian  guns  and  munitions.  These 
fields  of  Briey  were  only  twenty  miles  from  the  great  guns  of  Verdun. 
They  were  French  territory  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  and  had 
been  seized  by  the  army  of  the  Crown  Prince,  co-operating  with  the 
Army  of  Metz  because  of  their  immense  value  to  the  Germans  in 
war  making. 

As  a  preliminary  to  the  battle,  von  Falkenhayn  placed  a 
semicircle  of  huge  howitzers  and  rifles  around  the  field  of  Briey. 
Then  assembling  the  vast  forces  drained  from  all  the  fronts  and 
having  erected  ammunition  dumps  covering  many  acres,  the  great 
battle  commenced  with  a  surprise  attack  upon  the  village  of  Hau- 
mont  on  February  21,  1916. 

The  first  victory  of  the  Germans  at  that  point  was  an  easy  one. 
The  great  fort  of  Douaumont  was  the  next  objective.  This  was 
taken  on  February  25th  after  a  concentrated  bombardment  that  for 
intensity  surpassed  anything  that  heretofore  had  been  shown  in  the 
war. 

Von  Falkenhayn,  personally  superintending  the  disposition 
of  guns  and  men,  had  now  penetrated  the  outer  defenses  of  Verdun. 
The  tide  was  running  against  the  French,  and  shells,  more  shells  for 
the  guns  of  all  caliber;  men,  more  men  for  the  earthworks  surround- 
ing the  devoted  city  were  needed.  The  narrow-gauge  railway  con- 
necting Verdun  with  the  great  French  depots  of  supplies  was  totally 
inadequate  for  the  transportation  burdens  suddenly  cast  upon  it. 
In  this  desperate  emergency  a  transport  system  was  born  of 
necessity,  a  system  that  saved  Verdun.  It  was  fleet  upon  fleet  of 
motor  trucks,  all  sizes,  all  styles;  anything  that  could  pack  a  few 
shells  or  a  handful  of  men  was  utilized.  The  backbone  of  the 
system  was  a  greet  fleet  of  trucks  driven  by  men  whose  average 
daily  rest  was  four  hours,  and  upon  whose  horizon-blue  uniforms 
the  stains  of  snow  and  sleet,  of  dust  and  mud,  were  indelibly  fixed 
through  the  winter,  spring,  summer  and  fall  of  1916,  for  the  glori- 
ous engagement  continued  from  February  21st  until  November  2d, 
when  the  Germans  were  forced  into  full  retreat  from  the  field  of 


IMMORTAL  VERDUN  401 

honor,  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Vaux  putting  a  period  to  Germany's 
disastrous  plan  and  to  von  Falkenhayn's  military  career. 

Lord  Northcliffe,  describing  the  early  days  of  the  immortal 
battle,  wrote: 

"Verdun  is,  in  many  ways,  the  most  extraordinary  of  battles. 
The  mass  of  metal  used  on  both  sides  is  far  beyond  all  parallel; 
the  transformation  on  the  Douaumont  Ridge  was  more  suddenly 
dramatic  than  even  the  battle  of  the  Marne;  and,  above  all,  the 
duration  of  the  conflict  already  looks  as  if  it  would  surpass  any- 
thing in  history.  More  than  a  month  has  elapsed  since,  by  the 
kindness  of  General  Joffre  and  General  P6tain,  I  was  able  to  watch 
the  struggle  from  various  vital  viewpoints.  The  battle  had  then 
been  raging  with  great  intensity  for  a  fortnight,  and,  as  I  write, 
four  to  five  thousand  guns  are  still  thundering  round  Verdun. 
Impossible,  therefore,  any  man  to  describe  the  entire  battle. 
The  most  one  can  do  is  to  set  down  one's  impressions  of  the  first 
phases  of  a  terrific  conflict,  the  end  of  which  cannot  be  fore- 


seen. 
it 


My  chief  impression  is  one  of  admiration  for  the  subtle 
powers  of  mind  of  the  French  High  Command.  General  Joffre 
and  General  Castelnau  are  men  with  especially  fine  intellects 
tempered  to  terrible  keenness.  Always  they  have  had  to  contend 
against  superior  numbers.  In  1870,  when  they  were  subalterns, 
their  country  lost  the  advantage  of  its  numerous  population  by 
abandoning  general  military  service  at  a  time  when  Prussia  was 
completely  realizing  the  idea  of  a  nation  in  arms.  In  1914,  when 
they  were  commanders,  France  was  inferior  to  a  still  greater  degree 
in  point  of  numbers  to  Prussianized  Germany.  In  armament, 
also,  France  was  inferior  at  first  to  her  enemy.  The  French  High 
Command  has  thus  been  trained  by  adversity  to  do  all  that  human 
intellect  can  against  almost  overwhelming  hostile  material  forces. 
General  Joffre,  General  Castelnau — and,  later,  General  P6tain,  who 
at  a  moment's  notice  displaced  General  Herr — had  to  display 
genius  where  the  Germans  were  exhibiting  talent,  and  the  result 
is  to  be  seen  at  Verdun.  They  there  caught  the  enemy  in  a  series 
of  traps  of  a  kind  hitherto  unknown  in  modern  warfare — something 
elemental,  and  yet  subtle,  neo-primitive,  and  befitting  the  atavistic 
character  of  the  Teuton.  They  caught  him  in  a  web  of  his  own 
unfulfilled  boasts. 


402  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

"The  enemy  began  by  massing  a  surprising  force  on  the 
western  front.  Tremendous  energy  and  organizing  power  were 
the  marks  of  his  supreme  efforts  to  obtain  a  decision.  It  was 
usually  reckoned  that  the  Germans  maintain  on  all  fronts  a  field 
army  of  about  seventy-four  and  a  half  army  corps,  which  at  full 
strength  number  three  million  men.  Yet,  while  holding  the  Rus- 
sians from  Riga  to  the  south  of  the  Pripet  Marshes,  and  main- 
taining a  show  of  force  in  the  Balkans,  Germany  seems  to  have 
succeeded  in  bringing  up  nearly  two  millions  and  a  half  of  men  for 
her  grand  spring  offensive  in  the  west.  At  one  time  her  forces 
in  France  and  Flanders  were  only  ninety  divisions.  But  troops 
and  guns  were  withdrawn  in  increasing  numbers  from  Russia  and 
Serbia  in  December,  1915,  until  there  were,  it  is  estimated,  a 
hundred  and  eighteen  divisions  on  the  Franco-British-Belgian 
front.  A  large  number  of  six-inch  and  twelve-inch  Austrian  howitz- 
ers were  added  to  the  enormous  Krupp  batteries.  Then  a  large 
proportion  of  new  recruits  of  the  1916  class  were  moved  into  Rhine- 
land  depots  to  serve  as  drafts  for  the  fifty-nine  army  corps,  and  it 
is  thought  that  nearly  all  the  huge  shell  output  that  had  accumu- 
lated during  the  whiter  was  transported  westward. 

"The  French  Staff  reckoned  that  Verdun  would  be  attacked 
when  the  ground  had  dried  somewhat  in  the  March  winds.  It 
was  thought  that  the  enemy  movement  would  take  place  against 
the  British  front  in  some  of  the  sectors  of  which  there  were  chalk 
undulations,  through  which  the  rains  of  whiter  quickly  drained. 
The  Germans  skilfully  encouraged  this  idea  by  making  an  apparent 
preliminary  attack  at  Lihons,  on  a  five-mile  front,  with  rolling 
gas-clouds  and  successive  waves  of  infantry.  During  this  feint 
the  veritable  offensive  movement  softly  began  on  Saturday,  Feb- 
ruary 19,  1916,  when  the  enormous  masses  of  hostile  artillery  west, 
east,  and  north  of  the  Verdun  salient  started  registering  on  the 
French  positions.  Only  hi  small  numbers  did  the  German  guns 
fire,  in  order  not  to  alarm  their  opponents.  But  even  this  trial 
bombardment  by  shifts  was  a  terrible  display  of  power,  calling 
forth  all  the  energies  of  the  outnumbered  French  gunners  to  main- 
tain the  artillery  duels  that  continued  day  and  night  until  Monday 
morning,  February  21st. 

"The  enemy  seems  to  have  maintained  a  bombardment  all 
round  General  Heir's  lines  on  February  21,  1916,  but  this  general 


AMMUNITION  FOR  THE  GUNS 

Canadian  narrow-gauge  line  taking  ammunition  up  the  line  through  a 
shattered  village 


[HOW  VERDUN  WAS  SAVED 
The  motor  transport  never  faltered  when  the  railroads  were  put  out  of  action. 


IIS 


IMMORTAL  VERDUN  405 

battering  was  done  with  a  thousand  pieces  of  field  artillery.  The 
grand  masses  of  heavy  howitzers  were  used  in  a  different  way. 
At  a  quarter  past  seven  hi  the  morning  they  concentrated  on  the 
small  sector  of  advanced  intrenchments  near  Brabant  and  the 
Meuse;  twelve-inch  shells  fell  with  terrible  precision  every  few 
yards,  according  to  the  statements  made  by  the  French  troops. 
I  afterwards  saw  a  big  German  shell,  from  at  least  six  miles  distant 
from  my  place  of  observation,  hit  quite  a  small  target.  So  I  can 
well  believe  that,  in  the  first  bombardment  of  French  positions, 
which  had  been  photographed  from  the  air  and  minutely  measured 
and  registered  by  the  enemy  gunners  hi  the  trial  firing,  the  great, 
destructive  shots  went  home  with  extraordinary  effect.  The 
trenches  were  not  bombarded — they  were  obliterated.  In  each 
small  sector  of  the  six-mile  northward  bulge  of  the  Verdun  salient 
the  work  of  destruction  was  done  with  surprising  quickness. 

"After  the  line  from  Brabant  to  Haumont  was  smashed,  the 
main  fire  power  was  directed  against  the  other  end  of  the  bow  at 
Herbebois,  Ornes,  and  Maucourt.  Then  when  both  .ends  of  the 
bow  were  severely  hammered,  the  central  point  of  the  Verdun 
salient,  Caures  Woods,  was  smothered  hi  shells  of  all  sizes,  poured 
hi  from  east,  north  and  west.  In  this  manner  almost  the  whole 
enormous  force  of  heavy  artillery  was  centered  upon  mile  after 
mile  of  the  French  front.  When  the  great  guns  lifted  over  the  lines 
of  craters,  the  lighter  field  artillery,  placed  row  after  row  hi  front 
of  the  wreckage,  maintained  an  unending  fire  curtain  over  the  com- 
municating saps  and  support  intrenchments. 

"Then  came  the  second  surprising  feature  in  the  new  German 
system  of  attack.  No  waves  of  storming  infantry  swept  into  the 
battered  works.  Only  strong  patrols  at  first  came  cautiously 
forward,  to  discover  if  it  were  safe  for  the  main  body  of  troops  to 
advance  and  reorganize  the  French  line  so  as  to  allow  the  artillery 
to  move  onward.  There  was  thus  a  large  element  of  truth  hi  the 
marvelous  tales  afterwards  told  by  German  prisoners.  Their 
commanders  thought  it  would  be  possible  to  do  all  the  fighting 
with  long-range  artillery,  leaving  the  infantry  to  act  as  squatters 
to  the  great  guns,  and  occupy  and  rebuild  line  after  line  of  the 
French  defenses  without  any  serious  hand-to-hand  struggles.  All 
they  had  to  do  was  to  protect  the  gunners  from  surprise  attack, 
while  the  guns  made  an  easy  path  for  them. 


406  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

"But,  ingenious  as  was  this  scheme  for  saving  the  man-power 
of  Germany  by  an  unparalleled  expenditure  of  shell,  it  required 
for  full  success  the  co-operation  of  the  French  troops.  But  the 
French  did  not  co-operate.  Their  High  Command  had  continually 
improved  their  system  of  trench  defense  in  accordance  with  the 
experiences  of  their  own  hurricane  bombardments  in  Champagne 
and  the  Carency  sector.  General  Castelnau,  the  acting  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  on  the  French  front,  was  indeed  the  inventor 
of  hurricane  fire  tactics,  which  he  had  used  for  the  first  time  in 
February,  1915,  in  Champagne.  When  General  Joffre  took  over 
the  conduct  of  all  French  operations,  leaving  to  General  Castelnau 
the  immediate  control  of  the  front  in  France,  the  victor  of  the  battle 
of  Nancy  weakened  his  advance  lines  and  then  his  support  lines, 
until  his  troops  actually  engaged  in  fighting  were  very  little  more 
that  a  thin  covering  body,  such  as  is  thrown  out  towards  the  fron- 
tier while  the  main  forces  connect  well  behind. 

"We  shall  see  the  strategical  effect  of  this  extraordinary  meas- 
ure in  the  second  phase  of  the  Verdun  battle,  but  its  tactical  effect 
was  to  leave  remarkably  few  French  troops  exposed  to  the  appalling 
tempest  of  German  and  Austrian  shells.  The  fire-trench  was 
almost  empty,  and  in  many  cases  the  real  defenders  of  the  French 
line  were  men  with  machine  guns,  hidden  in  dug-outs  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  photographed  positions  at  which  the  German  gun- 
ners aimed.^  The  batteries  of  light  guns,  which  the  French  handled 
with  the  flexibility  and  continuity  of  fire  of  Maxims,  were  also 
concealed  in  widely  scattered  positions.  The  main  damage  caused 
by  the  first  intense  bombardment  was  the  destruction  of  all  the 
telephone  wires  along  the  French  front.  In  one  hour  the  German 
guns  plowed  up  every  yard  of  ground  behind  the  observing  posts 
and  behind  the  fire  trench.  Communications  could  only  be  slowly 
re-established  by  messengers,  so  that  many  parties  of  men  had  to 
fight  on  their  own  initiative,  with  little  or  no  combination  of  effort 
with  their  comrades. 

"Yet,  desperate  as  were  their  circumstances,  they  broke 
down  the  German  plan  for  capturing  trenches  without  an  infantry 
attack.  They  caught  the  patrols  and  annihilated  them,  and  then 
swept  back  the  disillusioned  and  reluctant  main  bodies  of  German 
troops.  First,  the  bombing  parties  were  felled,  then  the  sappers  as 
they  came  forward  to  repair  the  line  for  their  infantry,  and  at  last 


IMMORTAL  VERDUN  407 

the  infantry  itself  in  wave  after  wave  of  field-gray.  The  small 
French  garrison  of  every  center  of  resistance  fought  with  cool, 
deadly  courage,  and  often  to  the  death. 

"Artillery  fire  was  practically  useless  against  them,  for  though 
their  tunnel  shelters  were  sometimes  blown  in  by  the  twelve-inch 
shells,  which  they  regarded  as  their  special  terror  by  reason  of 
their  penetrative  power  and  wide  blast,  even  the  Germans  had  not 
sufficient  shells  to  search  out  all  their  underground  chambers, 
every  one  of  which  have  two  or  three  exits. 

"The  new  organization  of  the  French  Machine-gun  Corps 
was  a  fine  factor  in  the  eventual  success.  One  gun  fired  ten 
thousand  rounds  daily  for  a  week,  most  of  the  positions  selected 
being  spots  from  which  each  German  infantry  advance  would  be 
enfiladed  and  shattered.  Then  the  French  75's  which  had  been 
masked  during  the  overwhelming  fire  of  the  enemy  howitzers, 
came  unexpectedly  into  action  when  the  German  infantry  attacks 
increased  in  strength.  Near  Haumont,  for  example,  eight  succes- 
sive furious  assaults  were  repulsed  by  three  batteries  of  75's.  One 
battery  was  then  spotted  by  the  Austrian  twelve-inch  guns,  but 
it  remained  in  action  until  all  its  ammunition  was  exhausted.  The 
gunners  then  blew  up  their  guns  and  retired,  with  the  loss  of  only 
one  man. 

"Von  Falkenhayn  had  increased  the  Crown  Prince's  army  from 
the  fourteen  divisions — that  battled  to  Douaumont  Fort — to 
twenty-five  divisions.  In  April  he  added  five  more  divisions  to 
the  forces  around  Verdun  by  weakening  the  effectives  in  other 
sectors  and  drawing  more  troops  from  the  Russian  front.  It  was 
rumored  that  von  Hindenburg  was  growing  restive  and  complaining 
that  the  wastage  at  Verdun  would  tell  against  the  success  of  the 
campaign  on  the  Riga-Dvinsk  front,  which  was  to  open  when  the 
Baltic  ice  melted. 

"Great  as  was  the  wastage  of  life,  it  was  in  no  way  immediately 
decisive.  But  when  the  expenditure  of  shells  almost  outran  the 
highest  speed  of  production  of  the  German  munition  factories, 
and  the  wear  on  the  guns  was  more  than  Krupp  and  Skoda  could 
make  good,  there  was  danger  to  the  enemy  in  beginning  another 
great  offensive  likely  to  overtax  his  shelhnakers  and  gunmakers." 

Immortal  and  indomitable  France  had  won  over  her  foe  more 
power  than  she  had  possessed  even  after  the  battle  of  the  Marne. 


408  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Throughout  the  entire  summer  Verdun,  with  the  whole  popu- 
lation of  France  roused  to  the  supreme  heights  of  heroism  behind 
it,  held  like  a  rock.  Wave  after  wave  of  Germans  hi  gray-green 
lines  were  sent  against  the  twenty-five  miles  of  earthworks,  while 
the  French  guns  took  their  toll  of  the  crack  German  regiments. 
German  dead  lay  upon  the  field  until  the  exposed  flesh  became  the 
same  ghastly  hue  of  their  uniforms.  No  Man's  Land  around  Verdun 
was  a  waste  and  a  stench. 

General  Joffre's  plan  was  very  simple.  It  was  to  hold  out. 
As  was  afterwards  revealed,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  French 
people,  Sir  Douglas  Haig  had  placed  himself  completely  at  the 
service  of  the  French  Commander-in-Chief,  and  had  suggested 
that  he  should  use  the  British  army  to  weaken  the  thrust  at  Verdun. 
But  General  Joffre  had  refused  the  proffered  help.  No  man  knew 
better  than  he  what  his  country,  with  its  exceedingly  low  birth- 
rate, was  suffering  on  the  Meuse.  He  had  but  to  send  a  telegram 
to  British  Headquarters,  and  a  million  Britons,  with  thousands  of 
heavy  guns,  would  fling  themselves  upon  the  German  lines  and 
compel  Falkenhayn  to  divide  his  shell  output,  his  heavy  artillery, 
and  his  millions  of  men  between  Verdun  and  the  Somme.  But 
General  Joffre,  instead  of  sending  the  telegram  in  question,  merely 
dispatched  officers  to  British  Headquarters  to  assure  and  calm  the 
chafing  Scotsman  commanding  the  military  forces  of  the  British 
Empire. 

Throughout  that  long^Summer  the  battle  cry  of  Verdun, 
"Ne  passeront  pas!"  ("They  shaU  not  pass!"),  was  an  inspiration  to 
the  French  army  and  to  the  world.  Then  as  autumn  drifted  its 
red  foliage  over  the  heights  surrounding  the  bloody  field,  the 
French  struck  back.  General  Nivelle,  who  had  taken  command  at 
Verdun  under  Joffre,  commenced  a  series  of  attacks  and  a  per- 
sistent pressure  against  the  German  forces  on  both  sides  of  the 
Meuse.  These  thrusts  culminated  in  a  sudden  sweeping  attack 
which,  on  October  24th,  resulted  in  the  recapture  by  Nivelle's 
forces  of  Fort  Douaumont  and,  on  November  2d,  in  the  recapture 
of  Fort  Vaux. 

Thus  ended  in  glory  the  most  inspiring  battle  in  the  long  and 
splendid  history  of  France. 


M 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
MURDERS  AND  MARTYRS 

ANY  examples  might  be  cited  to  show  that  the  Central 
empires  were  dead  to  the  humanities.  There  were  ap- 
parently no  limits  to  the  brutality  of  the  German  war- 
makers.  Among  the  outstanding  deeds  of  the  Teutons 
that  sickened  the  world  was  the  killing  of  Miss  Edith  Cavell,  an 
English  nurse  working  in  Belgian  hospitals. 

A  shudder  of  horror  circled  the  world  when  announcement  was 
formally  made  that  this  splendid  woman  was  sentenced  to  death 
and  murdered  by  a  German  firing  squad  at  two  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  October  12,  1915. 

The  killing  of  this  gentle-natured,  brave  woman  typified  to  the 
world  Germanjr's  essentially  brutal  militarism.  It  placed  the 
German  military  command  hi  a  niche  of  dishonor  unique  in  all 
history. 

The  specific  charge  against  Miss  Cavell  was  that  she  had 
helped  English  and  French  soldiers  and  Belgian  young  male  civilians 
to  cross  the  border  into  Holland.  The  direct  evidence  against  her 
was  hi  the  form  of  letters  intercepted  by  the  Germans  in  which  some 
of  these  soldiers  and  civilians  writing  from  England  thanked  her 
for  the  aid  she  had  given  to  them. 

Upon  the  farcical  trial  that  resulted  in  the  predetermined 
sentence  of  death,  Miss  Cavell  courageously  and  freely  admitted  her 
assistance  in  the  specified  cases  of  escape.  When  she  was  asked 
why  she  did  it,  she  declared  her  fear  that  if  she  had  not  done  so 
the  men  would  have  been  shot  by  the  Germans.  Her  testimony 
was  given  hi  a  clear  conversational  tone  that  betrayed  no  nervous- 
ness and  her  entire  bearing  was  such  as  to  win  the  sympathy  of 
everyone  except  her  stony-hearted  judges. 

The  German  officers  in  command  at  Brussels  made  it  impossible 
for  Miss  Cavell  to  see  counsel  before  the  trial,  and  a  number  of 
able  lawyers  who  were  solicited  to  undertake  her  defense  declined 
to  do  so  because  of  their  fear  of  the  Germans. 

409 


410  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Sentence  was  imposed  upon  her  at  five  o'clock  on  the  afternoon 
of  October  llth.  In  accordance  with  its  terms,  she  was  taken  from 
her  cell  and  placed  against  a  blank  wall  at  two  o'clock  the  following 
morning— the  darkness  of  the  hour  vying  with  the  blackness  of  the 
deed.  Mr.  Gahan,  the  English  clergyman  connected  with  the 
prison,  was  permitted  to  see  her  a  short  time  before  her  murder. 
He  gave  her  Holy  Communion  at  ten  o'clock  on  the  night  of  October 
llth.  To  him  she  declared  she  was  happy  in  her  contemplation 
of  death;  that  she  had  no  regret  for  what  she  had  done;  and  that 
she  was  glad  to  die  for  her  country. 

Brand  Whitlock,  American  Minister  to  Belgium,  and  Hugh 
Gibson,  Secretary  of  the  Legation,  did  all  that  was  humanly  possible 
to  avert  the  crime,  but  without  avail.  They  were  told  that,  "the 
Emperor  himself  could  not  intervene." 

Defending  the  murder,  Dr.  Alfred  Zimmermann,  German 
Under  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs,  callously  disposed  of  the 
matter  thus: 

"I  see  from  the  English  and  American  press  that  the  shooting 
of  an  Englishwoman  and  the  condemnation  of  several  other  women 
in  Brussels  for  treason  has  caused  a  sensation,  and  capital  against 
us  is  being  made  out  of  the  fact.  Men  and  women  are  equal 
before  the  law,  and  only  the  degree  of  guilt  makes  a  difference  in  the 
sentence  for  the  crime  and  its  consequences." 

Monuments  to  Edith  Cavell  were  reared  hi  widely  scattered 
communities.  A  mountain  was  named  in  her  honor.  Her  murder 
multiplied  enlistments  and  fed  the  fires  of  patriotism  throughout 
the  Allied  countries.  In  the  end,  Germany  lost  heavily.  The 
Teutons  aimed  to  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  men  and  women. 
They  only  succeeded  hi  arousing  a  righteous  anger  that  ultimately 
destroyed  the  Imperial  government. 

Another  instance  equally  flagrant  of  the  utter  callousness  of 
the  men  who  at  that  time  ruled  Germany,  was  the  murder  of 
Captain  Fryatt,  a  gallant  British  seaman,  who  had  dared  to 
attack  the  pirates  of  the  under-seas. 

Captain  Charles  Fryatt  was  the  master  of  the  steamship 
Brussels,  a  merchant  vessel  owned  by  the  Great  Eastern  Railway. 
It  was  captured  by  the  Germans  on  June  23,  1916.  Captain 
Fryatt  was  taken  to  Zeebrugge.  A  court-martial  went  through 
the  motions  of  a  trial  at  Bruges  on  July  27th.  The  charge  against 


MURDERS  AND  MARTYRS  411 

Captain  Fryatt  was  that  of  attempting  to  ram  the  German  sub- 
marine U-33. 

Mute  testimony  against  Captain  Fryatt  was  a  gold  watch 
found  upon  his  person.  This  carried  an  inscription  testifying 
that  the  watch  had  been  presented  by  the  mayor  and  people  of 
Harwich  in  recognition  of  the  Captain's  bravery  in  attempting  to 
ram  a  submarine,  and  his  successful  escape  when  the  U-boat  called 
upon  him  to  surrender. 

The  prisoners  who  were  captured  with  Captain  Fryatt  were 
sent  to  the  prison  camp  at  Ruhlaben,  but  Captain  Fryatt  was 
condemned  to  death  as  a  "franc-tireur."  The  news  of  the  murder 
was  sent  to  the  world  through  a  German  communique  dated  July 
28th.  It  stated: 

The  accused  was  condemned  to  death  because,  although  he  was  not  a 
member  of  a  combatant  force,  he  made  an  attempt  on  the  afternoon  of 
March  20,  1915,  to  ram  the  German  submarine  U-33  near  the  Maas 
lightship.  The  accused,  as  well  as  the  first  officer  and  the  chief  engineer  of 
the  steamer,  received  at  the  time  from  the  British  Admiralty  a  gold  watch 
as  a  reward  of  his  brave  conduct  on  that  occasion,  and  his  action  was 
mentioned  with  praise  in  the  House  of  Commons. 

On  the  occasion  in  question,  disregarding  the  U-boat's  signal  to  stop 
and  show  his  national  flag,  he  turned  at  a  critical  moment  at  high  speed  on 
the  submarine,  which  escaped  the  steamer  by  a  few  meters  only  by  imme- 
diately diving.  He  confessed  that  in  so  doing  he  had  acted  hi  accordance 
with  the  instructions  of  the  Admiralty.  One  of  the  many  nefarious 
franc-tireur  proceedings  of  the  British  merchant  marine  against  our  war 
vessels  has  thus  found  a  belated  but  merited  expiation. 

This  brutal  action  by  Germany  coining  after  the  murder  of 
Edith  Cavell  created  intense  indignation  throughout  the  world. 
It  ranked  with  the  poison  gas  at  Ypres,  the  Lusitania,  the  Belgian 
atrocities,  the  killing  of  Edith  Cavell  and  the  unrestricted  submarine 
sinkings,  as  a  factor  hi  arousing  the  democratic  peoples  of  the 
world  to  a  fighting  pitch. 

Germany  sowed  its  seeds  of  destruction  in  the  wind  that  bore 
the  fumes  of  poison  gas,  and  in  the  ruthless  brutality  that  decreed 
the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania  and  the  murders  of  Edith  Cavell  and 
Captain  Fryatt. 

It  reaped  the  whirlwind  in  the  world-wide  wrath  that  brought 
America  into  the  war,  and  that  visited  disgrace  and  defeat  upon 
the  German  Empire. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OP  YPRES 

FIRST  to  feel  the  effects  of  German  terrorism  through  poison 
gas  were  the  gallant  Canadian  troops  on  the  afternoon  of 
April  22,  1915,  at  Ypres,  Belgium.    Gas  had  been  used  by 
the  Germans  previously  to  this,  but  they  were  mere  experi- 
mental clouds  directed  against  Belgian  troops. 

Before  the  battle,  the  English  and  Canadians  held  a  line  from 
Broodseinde  to  half  a  mile  north  of  St.  Julien  on  the  crest  of  the 
Graf  ens  taf el  Ridge.  The  French  prolonged  the  line  to  Steenstraate 
on  the  Yperlee  Canal.  The  Germans  originally  planned  the 
attack  for  Tuesday,  April  20th,  but  with  satanic  ingenuity  the 
offensive  was  postponed  until  between  4  and  5  o'clock  on  the 
afternoon  of  Thursday,  the  22d.  During  the  morning  the  wind 
blew  steadily  from  the  north  and  the  scientists  attached  to  the 
German  Field  Headquarters  predicted  that  the  strong  wind  would 
continue  at  least  twelve  hours  longer. 

The  Canadian  division  held  a  line  extending  about  five  miles 
from  the  Ypres-Roulers  Railway  to  the  Ypres-Poelcapelle  road 
The  division  consisted  of  three  infantry  brigades,  in  addition  to  the 
artillery  brigades.  Upon  this  unsuspecting  body  of  men  the  poison 
fumes  were  projected  by  means  of  pipes  and  force  pumps.  The 
immediate  consequences  were  that  the  asphyxiating  gas  of  great 
intensity  rendered  immediately  helpless  thousands  of  men.  The 
same  gas  attack  that  was  projected  upon  the  Canadians  also  fell 
with  murderous  effect  upon  the  French.  The  consequences  were 
that  the  French  division  on  the  left  of  the  Canadians  gave  way  and 
the  Third  brigade  of  the  Canadian  division,  so  far  as  the  hft  was 
concerned,  was  "up  in  the  ah-,"  to  use  the  phrase  of  its  commanding 
officer. 

It  became  necessary  for  Brigadier-General  Turner,  commanding 
the  Third  brigade,  to  throw  back  his  left  flank  southward  to  protect 
his  rear.  This  caused  great  confusion,  and  the  enemy,  advancing 
rapidly,  took  a  number  of  guns  and  many  prisoners,  penetrating  to 

412 


THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OF  YPRES  413 

the  village  of  St.  Julien,  two  miles  in  the  rear  of  the  original  French 
trenches.  The  Canadians  fought  heroically,  although  greatly 
outnumbered  and  pounded  by  artillery  that  inflicted  tremendous 
losses.  The  Germans,  as  they  came  through  the  gas  clouds,  were 
protected  by  masks  moistened  with  a  solution  containing  bi-car- 
bonate  of  soda. 

The  tactics  of  General  Turner  off-set  the  numerical  superiority 
of  the  enemy,  and  prevented  a  disastrous  rout.  General  Curry, 
commanding  the  Second  brigade  of  Canadians,  repeated  this 
successful  maneuver  when  he  flung  his  left  flank  southward  and, 
presenting  two  fronts  to  the  enemy,  held  his  line  of  trenches  from 
Thursday  at  5  o'clock  until  Sunday  afternoon.  The  reason  the 
trenches  were  held  no  longer  than  Sunday  afternoon  was  that  they 
had  been  obliterated  by  heavy  artillery  fire.  The  Germans  finally 
succeeded  in  capturing  a  line,  the  forward  point  of  which  was  the 
village  of  St.  Julien.  Reinforcements  under  General  Alderson  had 
come  up  by  this  time  and  the  enemy's  advance  was  suddenly 
checked.  Enemy  attacks  upon  the  line  running  from  Ypres  to 
Passchendaele  completely  broke  down  under  the  withering  fire  of  the 
reinforced  and  re-formed  artillery  and  infantry  brigades.  The 
record  officer  of  the  Canadians  makes  this  comment  of  the  detailed 
fighting: 

The  story  of  the  second  battle  of  Ypres  is  the  story  of  how 
the  Canadian  division,  enormously  outnumbered — for  they  had  in 
front  of  them  at  least  four  divisions,  supported  by  immensely  heavy 
artillery,  with  a  gap  still  existing,  though  reduced,  hi  their  lines, 
and  with  dispositions  made  hurriedly  under  the  stimulus  of  critical 
danger,  fought  through  the  day  and  through  the  night,  and  then 
through  another  day  and  night;  fought  under  their  officers  until,  as 
happened  to  so  many,  those  perished  gloriously,  and  then  fought 
from  the  impulsion  of  sheer  valor  because  they  came  from  fighting 
stock. 

The  enemy,  of  course,  was  aware — whether  fully  or  not  may 
perhaps  be  doubted— of  the  advantage  his  breach  in  the  line  had 
given  him,  and  immediately  began  to  push  a  formidable  series  of 
attacks  upon  the  whole  of  the  newly-formed  Canadian  salient. 
The  attack  was  everywhere  fierce,  but  developed  with  particular 
intensity  at  this  moment  upon  the  apex  of  the  newly-formed  line, 
running  in  the  direction  of  St.  Julien. 


414  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  some  British  guns  were  taken 
in  a  wood  comparatively  early  in  the  evening  of  the  22d.  In  the 
course  of  that  night,  and  under  the  heaviest  machine-gun  fire,  this 
wood  was  assaulted  by  the  Canadian  Scottish,  Sixteenth  battalion 
of  the  Third  brigade,  and  the  Tenth  battalion  of  the  Second  brigade, 
which  was  intercepted  for  this  purpose  on  its  way  to  a  reserve  trench. 
The  battalions  were  respectively  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Leckie  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Boyle,  and  after  a  most  fierce  strug- 
gle hi  the  light  of  a  misty  moon  they  took  the  position  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet.  At  midnight  the  Second  battalion,  under  Colonel 
Watson,  and  the  Toronto  regiment,  Queen's  Own,  Third  battalion, 
under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Rennie,  both  of  the  First  brigade,  brought 
up  much-needed  reinforcement,  and  though  not  actually  engaged  hi 
the  assault,  were  in  reserve. 

All  through  the  following  days  and  nights  these  battalions 
shared  the  fortunes  and  misfortunes  of  the  Third  brigade.  An 
officer  who  took  part  hi  the  attack  describes  how  the  men  about 
him  fell  under  the  fire  of  the  machine  guns,  which,  in  his  phrase, 
played  upon  them  "like  a  watering  pot."  He  added  quite  simply 
"I  wrote  my  own  life  off."  But  the  line  never  wavered.  When 
one  man  fell  another  took  his  place,  and  with  a  final  shout  the 
survivors  of  the  two  battalions  flung  themselves  into  the  wood.  The 
German  garrison  was  completely  demoralized,  and  the  impetuous 
advance  of  the  Canadians  did  not  cease  until  they  reached  the  far 
side  of  the  wood  and  intrenched  themselves  there  hi  the  position 
so  dearly  gained.  They  had,  however,  the  disappointment  of 
finding  that  the  guns  had  been  blown  up  by  the  enemy,  and  later 
on  in  the  same  night  a  most  formidable  concentration  of  artillery 
fire,  sweeping  the  wood  as  a  tropical  storm  sweeps  the  leaves  from  a 
forest,  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  hold  the  position  for  which 
they  had  sacrificed  so  much. 

The  fighting  continued  without  intermission  all  through  the 
night,  and,  to  those  who  observed  the  indications  that  the  attack 
was  being  pushed  with  ever-growing  strength,  it  hardly  seemed 
possible  that  the  Canadians,  fighting  in  positions  so  difficult  to 
defend  and  so  little  the  subject  of  deliberate  choice,  could  maintain 
their  resistance  for  any  long  period.  At  6  A.  M.  on  Friday  it  became 
apparent  that  the  left  was  becoming  more  and  more  involved,  and 
a  powerful  German  attempt  to  outflank  it  developed  rapidly.  The 


THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OF  YPRES 


415 


consequences,  if  it  had  been  broken  or  outflanked,  need  not  be 
insisted  upon.     They  were  not  merely  local. 

It  was  there  decided,  formidable  as  the  attempt  undoubt- 
edly was,  to  try  and  give  relief  by  a  counter-attack  upon  the  first 


driven 
to  the  south  of 


pOEKftPPEU- 


PASSCHENDALfi 

rUUllEN 


QHELUVEL 


X  /  °RSiaO» 


THE  TOWN  OF  YPRES  is  FCLL  OF  MEMOBIES  FOB  THE  CANADIANS 


line  of  German  trenches,  now  far,  far  advanced  from  those  originally 
occupied  by  the  French.     This  was  carried  out  by  the 
First  and  Fourth  battalions  of  the  First  brigade,  under  Brigadier- 
General  Mercer,  acting  in  combination  with  a  British  brigade. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  youngest  private  in  the      ik,  a 


416  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

set  his  teeth  for  the  advance,  knew  the  task  hi  front  of  him,  and 
the  youngest  subaltern  knew  all  that  rested  upon  its  success.  It 
did  not  seem  that  any  human  being  could  live  in  the  shower  of  shot 
and  shell  which  began  to  play  upon  the  advancing  troops.  They 
suffered  terrible  casualties.  For  a  short  tune  every  other  man 
seemed  to  fall,  but  the  attack  was  pressed  ever  closer  and  closer. 

The  Fourth  Canadian  battalion  at  one  moment  came  under  a 
particularly  withering  fire.  For  a  moment — not  more — it  wavered. 
Its  most  gallant  commanding  officer,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Burchill, 
carrying,  after  an  old  fashion,  a  light  cane,  coolly  and  cheerfully 
rallied  his  men  and,  at  the  very  moment  when  his  example  had  in- 
fected them,  fell  dead  at  the  head  of  his  battalion.  With  a  hoarse  cry 
of  anger  they  sprang  forward  (for,  indeed  they  loved  him),  as  if  to 
avenge  his  death.  The  astonishing  attack  which  followed — pushed 
home  in  the  face  of  direct  frontal  fire  made  hi  broad  daylight  by  bat- 
talions whose  names  should  live  forever  in  the  memories  of  soldiers 
—was  carried  to  the  front  line  of  the  German  trenches.  After  a 
hand-to-hand  struggle  the  last  German  who  resisted  was  bayoneted, 
and  the  trench  was  won. 

The  measure  of  this  success  may  be  taken  when  it  is  pointed 
out  that  this  trench  represented  in  the  German  advance  the  apex 
in  the  breach  which  the  enemy  had  made  in  the  original  line  of  the 
Allies,  and  that  it  was  two  and  a  half  miles  south  of  that  line. 
This  charge,  made  by  men  who  looked  death  indifferently  in  the 
face  (for  no  man  who  took  part  in  it  could  think  that  he  was  likely 
to  live)  saved,  and  that  was  much,  the  Canadian  left.  But  it  did 
more.  Up  to  the  point  where  the  assailants  conquered,  or  died,  it 
secured  and  maintained  during  the  most  critical  moment  of  all  the 
integrity  of  the  allied  line.  For  the  trench  was  not  only  taken,  it 
was  held  thereafter  against  all  comers,  and  in  the  teeth  of  every 
conceivable  projectile,  until  the  night  of  Sunday,  the  25th,  when  all 
that  remained  of  the  war-broken  but  victorious  battalion  was 
relieved  by  fresh  troops. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
ZEPPELIN  RAIDS  ON  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

THE  idea  of  warfare  in  the  air  has  been  a  dream  of  romancers 
from  a  period  long  before  Jules  Verne.     Indeed,  balloons 
were  used  for  observation  purposes  in  the  eighteenth  century 
by  the  French  armies.   The  crude  balloon  of  that  period,  in  a 
more  developed  form,  was  used  hi  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  and 
during  the  siege  of  Paris  by  its  assistance  communication  was 
kept  up  between  Paris  and  the  outside  world.     Realizing  its  possi- 
bilities inventors  had  been  trying  to  develop  a  balloon  which  could 
be  propelled  against  the  wind  and  so  guided  that  explosives  could 
be  dropped  upon  a  hostile  army.     Partially  successful  dirigible 
balloons  have  been  occasionally  exhibited  for  a  number  of  years. 

The  idea  of  such  a  balloon  took  a  strong  hold  upon  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  German  army  staff  long  before  the  Great  War,  and 
Count  Ferdinand  Zeppelin  gave  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  its 
development.  From  the  beginning  he  met  with  great  difficulties. 
His  first  ships  proved  mechanical  failures,  and  after  these  diffi- 
culties were  overcome  he  met  with  a  series  cf  accidents  which 
almost  put  an  end  to  his  efforts.  By  popular  subscription,  and  by 
government  support,  he  was  able  to  continue,  and  when  the  war 
began  Germany  had  thirty-five  dirigible  balloons  of  the  Zeppelin 
and  other  types,  many  of  them  as  much  as  490  feet  long. 

The  Zeppelin  balloon,  called  the  Zeppelin  from  the  name  of 
its  inventor,  was  practically  a  vast  ship,  capable  of  carrying  a 
load  of  about  fifteen  thousand  pounds.  It  would  carry  a  crew  of 
twenty  men  or  more,  fuel  for  the  engines,  provisions,  a  wireless 
installation,  and  armament  with  ammunition.  For  a  journey  of 
twenty  hours  such  a  vessel  would  need  at  least  seven  thousand 
pounds  of  fuel.  It  would  probably  be  able  to  carry  about  two 
tons  of  explosives.  These  Zeppelins  could  travel  great  distances. 
Before  the  war  one  of  them  flew  from  Lake  Constance  to  Berlin, 
a  continuous  flight  of  about  one  thousand  miles,  hi  thirty-one 
hours 

417 


418  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

These  great  aerial  warships  were  given  a  thorough  trial  by 
the  Germans.  They  disliked  to  admit  that  they  had  made  a  costly 
mistake  in  adding  them  to  their  armament.  It  soon  turned  out, 
however,  that  the  Zeppelins  were  practically  useless  in  battle. 
Whatever  they  could  do,  either  for  scouting  purposes  or  hi  dropping 
explosives  behind  the  enemy's  lines,  could  be  better  done  by  the 
airplane.  The  French  and  the  English,  who  before  the  war  had 
decided  that  the  airplane  was  the  more  important  weapon,  were 
right.  But  the  Germans  did  not  give  up  their  costly  toy  so  easily, 
and  they  determined  to  use  it  hi  the  bombardment  of  cities  and 
districts  situated  far  away  from  the  German  line,  in  dropping  bombs, 
not  upon  fortifications,  or  armed  camps  where  they  might  meet  with 
resistance,  but  upon  peaceful  non-belligerents  in  the  streets  of 
great  unf  ortified  cities. 

It  was  their  policy  of  frightfulness  once  again.  And  once 
again  they  had  made  a  mistake.  The  varied  expeditions  of  the 
Zeppelin  airships  sent  from  Germany  to  bombard  Paris,  or  to 
cross  the  Channel  and,  after  dropping  bombs  on  seaside  resorts, 
to  wander  over  the  city  of  London  in  the  hope  of  spreading  destruc- 
tion there,  did  little  real  damage  and  their  net  effects,  from  a  mili- 
tary point  of  view,  were  practically  nil. 

The  first  Zeppelin  raid  upon  England  took  place  on  January  19, 
1915.  The  Zeppelins  passed  over  the  cities  of  Yarmouth,  Cromer, 
Sherringham  and  King's  Lynn.  On  this  expedition  there  were 
two  Zeppelins.  They  reached  the  coast  of  Norfolk  about  8.30  in 
the  evening  and  then  steered  northwest  across  the  country  toward 
King's  Lynn,  dropping  bombs  as  they  went.  In  these  towns  there 
were  no  military  stations  and  the  damage  suffered  was  very  slight. 
Nine  persons  were  killed,  all  civilians.  This  raid  was  followed  by 
many  others,  which  at  first  usually  wasted  their  ammunition, 
dropping  then*  bombs  on  small  country  towns  or  in  empty  fields. 

On  the  31st  of  May  an  expedition  reached  London  and  killed 
six  persons  in  the  east  end.  The  result  of  this  raid  was  to  stir  the 
English  to  intense  indignation.  Mobs  gathered  in  the  London 
streets,  and  persons  suspected  of  being  Germans,  or  with  German 
sympathies,  were  attacked.  Other  raids  followed,  none  of  them 
doing  serious  military  damage,  but  usually  killing  or  wounding 
innocent  ^  non-combatants.  The  stupid  policy  of  secrecy  which 
they  maintained  during  the  first  year  of  the  war  unfortunately 


ZEPPELIN  RAIDS  419 

permitted  great  exaggeration  of  the  real  damages  which  they  had 
suffered. 

During  the  first  year,  according  to  Mr.  Balfour,  in  eighteen 
Zeppelin  raids  there  were  only  seventy-one  civilian  adults  and 
eighteen  children  killed,  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  civilian 
adults  and  thirty-one  children  wounded.  No  soldier  or  sailor 
was  killed  and  only  seven  wounded. 

In  France  similar  attacks  had  been  made  on  Paris  and  Calais. 
On  the  20th  of  March  two  Zeppelins  dropped  bombs  on  Paris, 
but  Paris,  unlike  London,  was  a  fortified  city,  and  the  sky  soldiers 
were  driven  off  by  the  anti-aircraft  guns.  The  French  also  devised 
an  efficient  method  of  defense.  On  the  appearance  of  an  airship 
great  searchlights  flashed  into  the  air  and  the  enemy  was  made  at 
once  a  target,  not  only  for  the  guns  of  all  the  forts,  but  also  for 
airplane  attack.  In  order  to  attack  successfully  a  Zeppelin  it  was 
necessary  that  an  airplane  should  attain  a  position  above  the 
enemy.  For  an  airplane  to  rise  to  such  a  height  time  was  required, 
as  the  airplane  rises  slowly.  The  French,  therefore,  devised  a  scheme 
by  which  two  or  more  airplanes  were  kept  constantly  circling  at  a 
very  great  height  above  the  city.  Relays  were  formed  which 
relieved  each  other  at  regular  intervals.  When  an  airship 
approached  it  would  therefore  be  compelled  in  the  first  place  to 
pass  through  the  fire  of  the  guns  on  the  great  forts,  and  then  would 
find  in  the  ah*  above  airplanes  in  waiting.  The  Germans,  there- 
fore, practically  gave  up  attacks  upon  Paris.  They  were  dangerous. 

London,  practically  unarmed,  seemed  to  them  an  easy  mark. 
But  the  British  Lion  was  now  awake.  The  English  had  been 
taken  by  surprise.  They  attempted  at  first,  hi  an  unorganized 
way,  to  protect  their  city,  and,  though  occasionally  successful  in 
destroying  an  airship  through  the  gallantry  of  some  individual 
hero,  they  soon  found  that  their  defense  must  be  organized,  and 
Admiral  Sir  Percy  Scott  was  entrusted  with  the  task.  Lights  were 
extinguished  on  the  streets  and  screened  on  the  water  front. 
Illumination  for  advertising  purposes  was  forbidden;  windows 
were  covered,  so  that  London  became  at  night  a  mass  of  gloom. 
The  Zeppelins,  compelled  to  fly  at  a  very  great  height,  because  of 
anti-aircraft  guns,  were  blinded.  As  in  Paris  airplanes  were  con- 
stantly kept  on  the  alert  and  searchlights  and  anti-airship  guns 
placed  at  every  convenient  point. 


420  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  suggestion  was  made  that  the  English  should  undertake 
reprisals,  but  the  suggestion  was  strongly  opposed  on  the  ground 
that  the  British  should  not  be  a  "party  to  a  line  of  conduct  con- 
demned by  every  right-thinking  man  of  every  civilized  nation." 

The  effect  of  the  English  improved  defenses  was  soon  obvious, 
when  the  German  expeditions  began  to  lose  airship  after  airship. 
Under  the  new  regime,  when  such  an  attack  was  signaled,  the  whole 
city  immediately  received  warning  and  the  sky  was  swept  by  dozens 
of  searchlights.  Safe  retreats  were  ready  for  those  who  cared  to 
use  them,  but  ordinarily  the  whole  population  rushed  out  to  watch 
the  spectacle.  Airplanes  would  dash  at  the  incoming  foe;  the 
searchlights  would  be  switched  off  and  the  guns  be  silent  to  avoid 
hindering  the  aviators.  Then  would  come  the  attack  and  Zeppelin 
after  Zeppelin  would  be  seen  falling,  a  great  mass  of  flames,  while 
their  companions  would  hurry  back  across  the  Channel.  Even 
there  they  would  not  be  safe,  for  many  an  airship  was  brought 
down  on  English  fields,  or  on  the  waters  of  the  sea. 

The  Germans,  however,  did  not  confine  then*  policy  of  fright- 
fulness  hi  the  air  to  the  performances  of  their  Zeppelins.  Before 
the  Zeppelins  had  crossed  the  Channel  their  airplanes  had  visited 
England.  On  Christmas  Day,  1914,  an  airplane  attacked  Dover, 
doing,  however,  no  damage.  Other  airplanes  also  visited  the  British 
Isles  from  time  to  time,  dropping  bombs,  and  as  the  Germans 
began  to  lose  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  their  Zeppelin  fleets  they 
began  more  and  more  to  substitute  airplanes  for  their  airships. 

On  some  of  these  expeditions  much  more  damage  was  done 
than  had  ever  been  done  by  the  Zeppelins.  The  airplane  expedi- 
tion grew  serious  in  the  year  1917;  between  May  23d  and  June 
16th  of  that  year  there  were  five  such  aerial  attacks.  The  air- 
planes could  not  only  move  with  greater  speed  but  with  better 
direction.  An  attack  on  May  25th  resulted  in  the  killing  of  seventy- 
six  persons  and  the  injuring  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-four, 
the  principal  victims  being  women  and  children.  This  was  at  the 
town  of  Folkestone  on  the  southeast  coast.  In  this  attack  there 
were  about  sixteen  airplanes,  and  the  time  of  the  attack  was  not 
more  than  three  minutes.  Scarcely  any  part  of  Folkestone  escaped 
injury.  The  attack  was  methodically  organized.  Four  separate 
squadrons  passed  over  the  city,  following  each  other  at  short 
intervals.  It  was  impossible  to  tell  when  the  attack  would  end, 


P  C  gS    R 

fiffi 

SIM  * 


GUARDING  PARIS  FROM  THE  HUN 

Observation  post  fitted  with  instruments  for  gauging  the  height  and  speed 
i  aS^SS^'ife1  "•""«*  a  listening  post  and  a  "75'^  installed 


on  the  outakirta  of  Paris. 


ZEPPELIN  RAIDS 


423 


and  people  in  shelters  or  cellars  were  kept  waiting  for  hours  without 
being  able  to  feel  certain  that  the  danger  had  passed. 

It  is  probable  that  one  of  the  motives  of  these  raids  was  to 
keep  at  home  fleets  of  English  airplanes  which  might  be  more 
useful  on  the  front.  Indeed,  many  Englishmen,  alarmed  by  the 
damage,  urged  such  a  policy,  but  the  good  sense  of  the  English 
leaders  prevented  such  a  mistake  from  being  made.  Pitiful  as 
must  have  been  the  suffering  in  individual  cases,  the  whole  of  the 
damage  caused  by  the  German  frightfulness  was  but  a  trifle  as 
compared  with  the  usefulness  of  the  English  air-fleets  when 
directly  sent  against  the  German  armies.  Nevertheless,  every 
squadron  of  German  airplanes  sent  to  England  was  attacked  by 


RU55IA 


THE  FIRST  GERMAN  ARMY  WHICH  INVADED  FRANCE  (1,200,000)  WOULD  HAVE  STRETCHED 
PROM  PARIS  INTO  RUSSIA  (1,200  MILES)  IF  MARCHING  IN  SINGLE  FILE 

British  aviators,  and  in  those  attacks  the  Germans  suffered  many 
losses. 

The  worst  raid  of  all  those  made  was  one  on  June  13th,  which 
was  directed  upon  the  city  of  London.  On  that  occasion  ninety- 
seven  persons  were  killed  and  four  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
wounded.  These  airplane  operations  differed  from  the  Zeppelin 
expeditions  in  being  carried  on  hi  the  daytime,  and  this  raid  took 
place  while  the  schools  were  in  session  and  large  numbers  of  people 
were  in  the  street.  Only  one  of  the  attacking  airplanes  was 
brought  down.  The  raiding  machines  were  of  a  new  type,  about 
three  times  the  size  of  the  ordinary  machine,  and  there  were  twenty- 
two  such  machines  in  the  squadron.  The  battle  in  the  air  was  a 
striking  spectacle  and  in  spite  of  the  danger  was  watched  by  mil- 
lions of  the  population.  The  raiders  were  easily  seen  and  their 


424  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

flight  seemed  like  a  flight  of  swallows  as  they  dived  and  swerved 
through  the  air. 

The  raids  on  England  were  not  the  only  raids  conducted  by  the 
Germans  during  the  war.  Paris  suffered,  but  as  soon  as  the  warn- 
ing sounded,  the  sky  over  the  city  was  alive  with  defense  airplanes. 
An  attack  on  the  French  capital  took  place  on  the  27th  of  July 
and  began  about  midnight.  The  German  airmen,  however,  never 
got  further  than  a  suburban  section  of  the  city,  and  their  bombard- 
ment caused  but  little  damage.  In  one  of  the  suburbs,  however, 
a  German  flyer  dropped  four  bombs  on  a  Red  Cross  Hospital, 
killing  two  doctors,  a  chemist  and  a  male  nurse,  and  injuring  a 
number  of  patients.  The  raider  was  flying  low  and  the  distinguish- 
ing marks  of  the  hospital  were  plainly  apparent. 

Almost  every  day  during  the  bitter  fighting  of  1918,  reports 
came  in  that  Allied  hospitals  had  been  bombed  by  German  raiders. 
Attacks  on  hospitals  were,  of  course,  strictly  forbidden  by  the 
Hague  Convention,  and  they  caused  bitter  indignation.  Such 
attacks  were  of  a  piece  with  those  upon  hospital  ships  which  were 
made  from  tune  to  tune.  From  the  very  beginning  of  the  war  the 
Germans  could  not  understand  the  psychology  of  the  people  of 
the  Allied  countries.  They  were  not  fighting  with  slaves,  ready 
to  cower  under  the  lash,  but  with  free  people,  ready  to  fight  for 
liberty  and  roused  to  fury  by  lawlessness. 


CHAPTER   XXX 
RED  REVOLUTION  IN  RUSSIA 

THE  Russian  Revolution  was  not  a  sudden  movement  of 
the  people.     Long  before  the  war  it  had  raised  its  head. 
The  Duma  itself  came  into  existence  as  one  of  its  fruits; 
but  when  the  war  began  all  parties  joined  in  patriotic 
support  of  the  Russian  armies  and  laid  aside  for  the  time  their 
cherished  grievances.     The  war  was  immensely  popular.     Slavonic 
nationalism  turned  against  Austria-Hungary  and  Germany  who 
were  bent  upon  crushing  the  Slavonic  sister  state,  Serbia.     The 
Liberal  elements  saw  in  Germany  the  stronghold  of  reaction  and 
of  militarism,  and  trusted  that  its  downfall  would  be  followed 
by  that  of  Russian  autocracy.     But  so  glaring  was  the  incapacity 
of  the  old  regime,  that  a  union  was  formed  during  the  war  by  all 
the  Liberal  parties.    This  group  united  on  the  single  aim  of  pushing 
on  the  war,  and  silently  preparing  for  the  moment  when  the  catas- 
trophe to  Czarism  was  to  come. 

This  was  long  before  the  revolution.  But  a  conviction  of 
the  necessity  of  immediate  change  gradually  came  to  all.  The 
Czar  himself  brought  matters  to  an  issue.  His  vacillation,  his 
appointment  of  ministers  who  were  not  only  reactionary,  but  were 
suspected  of  being  German  tools,  were  too  much  for  even  honest 
supporters  of  the  Imperial  regime.  Some  of  these  reactionaries, 
it  is  true,  were  easily  driven  from  power.  In  1915  Sukhomlinov 
and  Maklakov  were  overthrown  by  the  influence  of  the  army 
and  the  Duma.  But  in  1916  the  parasites  came  to  life  again. 
M.  Boris  Stuermer  became  Prime  Minister,  and  appointed  as 
Minister  of  the  Interior  the  notorious  Protopopov.  On  November 
14,  1916,  Miliukov,  the  leader  of  the  Constitutional  Democrats, 
or  Cadet  Party,  attacked  the  Premier  in  one  of  the  fiercest  speeches 
ever  made  in  the  Russian  Duma.  Stuermer  was  compelled  to 
resign,  but  his  successor,  M.  Trepov,  though  an  honest  man  with 
high  ambitions,  was  forced  to  retain  Protopopov  at  the  Interior. 
For  a  moment  there  was  calm.  But  it  was  the  calm  before  the  storm. 

425 


426  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  Russian  Revolution,  now  recognized  as  the  most  bloody 
revolution  in  history,  began  with  the  assassination  of  a  single  man. 
This  man  was  Gregory  Novikh,  known  throughout  the  world 
under  the  name  of  Rasputin.  A  Siberian  peasant  by  birth,  immoral, 
filthy  in  person,  untrained  in  mind,  he  had  early  received  the  nick- 
name of  Rasputin,  which  means  " ne'er-do-well,"  on  account  of  his 
habits.  A  drunkard,  and  a  libertine  always,  he  posed  as  a  sort  of 
saint  and  miracle  worker,  let  his  hair  grow  long,  and  tramped 
about  the  world  barefoot. 

Rasputin  had  left  his  district  of  Tobolsk  and  at  Moscow  had 
started  a  new  cult,  where  mystical  seances  were  mingled  with 
debauchery.  Through  Madame  Verubova  he  had  been  introduced 
to  the  Empress  herself.  He  became  the  friend  of  Count  Witte, 
of  Stuermer,  and  Protopopov  was  his  tool.  Rumor  credited  him 
with  exercising  an  extraordinary  influence  upon  the  Czarina,  and 
through  her  upon  the  Czar.  This  influence  was  thought  to  be 
responsible  for  many  of  the  Czar's  unpopular  policies.  In  times 
of  great  public  agitation  the  wildest  rumors  are  easily  taken  for 
truth  and  the  absurd  legends  which  were  easily  associated  with  his 
name  were  greedily  accepted  by  people  of  every  rank.  The  influ- 
ence of  Rasputin  over  the  Imperial  family  was  denied  again  and 
again.  It  has  been  said  from  authoritative  sources  that  the  Czar 
did  not  know  him  by  sight,  and  that  the  Czarina  knew  him  only 
as  a  superstitious  and  neurotic  woman  might  know  some  fortune 
teller  or  other  charlatan.  Nevertheless  the  credulous  public 
believed  him  to  be  the  evil  spirit  of  the  Imperial  circle,  and  every 
false  move,  every  unpopular  act,  was  ascribed  to  his  baneful  influ- 
ence. But  such  a  career  could  not  last  long,  and  the  end  became  a 
tragedy. 

Several  times  Rasputin  had  been  attacked,  but  had  escaped. 
At  last,  on  the  29th  of  December,  1916,  Prince  Yusapov,  a  young 
man  of  wealth  and  position,  invited  him  to  dine  with  him  at  his 
own  home.  The  Prince  came  for  him  hi  his  own  car.  Entering 
the  dining-room,  they  found  there  the  Grand  Duke  Dmitri  Pavlo- 
vitch.  M.  Purishkevitch,  a  member  of  the  Duma,  had  acted  as 
chauffeur,  and  he  followed  him  in.  The  three  told  him  that  he 
was  to  die  and  he  was  handed  a  pistol  that  he  might  kill  himself; 
instead  of  doing  so,  he  shot  at  the  Grand  Duke,  but  missed,  and 
then  was  shot  in  turn  by  his  captors.  The  noise  attracted  the 


RED  REVOLUTION  IN  RUSSIA  427 

attention  of  the  police  who  inquired  what  had  happened.     "I  have 
just  killed  a  dog,"  was  the  reply. 

His  body  was  taken  in  an  automobile  to  the  Neva  River,  a 
hole  cut  in  the  ice,  and  weighted  with  stones,  it  was  dropped  into 
the  waters.  On  the  next  day  his  executioners  notified  the  police 
of  what  they  had  done,  and  the  news  was  announced  at  the 
Imperial  Theatre,  whose  audience  went  wild  with  enthusiasm,  and 
sang  the  National  Hymn.  No  legal  action  was  ever  taken  against 
Rasputin's  executioners.  His  body  was  recovered  and  given 
honorable  burial.  The  Czarina,  according  to  report,  following 
the  coffin  to  the  grave.  And  so  disappeared  from  the  Imperial 
Court  one  evil  force. 

But  his  tool,  Alexander  Protopopov,  still  survived.  Pro- 
topopov  was  an  extraordinary  man.  In  1916  he  had  visited  Eng- 
land and  France  and  made  a  splendid  impression.  His  speeches, 
full  of  fire  and  patriotism,  were  regarded  as  the  best  made  by  any 
deputation  that  had  come  from  Russia.  But  on  his  return  to 
Petrograd  he  fell  completely  into  the  hands  of  the  Court  party. 
He  became  associated  with  Rasputin,  and  his  wild  talk  and  rest- 
less conduct  suggested  to  many  that  his  mind  had  become  affected. 

After  the  death  of  Rasputin,  the  meeting  of  the  Duma,  which 
should  have  taken  place  on  January  25,  1917,  was  postponed  for  a 
month.  The  censorship  was  drawn  tighter,  the  members  of  the 
secret  police  were  greatly  increased,  and  a  deliberate  endeavor, 
under  the  direction  of  Protopopov  was  made  to  encourage  an  abor- 
tive revolution,  so  that  its  overthrow  might  establish  the  reaction- 
aries in  power.  But  the  attempt  failed. 

During  January  and  February  the  people  were  calm.  No  one 
wanted  revolution  then.  On  February  9th,  the  labor  members  of 
the  War  Industry  Committee  were  arrested.  This  was  regarded 
as  plainly  provocative,  and  M.  Miliukov  wrote  appeals  to  the 
people  for  patience.  These  were  suppressed,  but  no  disturbance 
ensued.  A  British  Commission,  then  on  a  visit  to  Russia,  reported 
that  there  was  no  danger  of  revolution.  But  the  people  were 
hungry.  Speakers  in  the  Duma  discussed  the  food  problem. 
It  became  harder  and  harder  to  procure  bread,  and  little  that  was 
practical  seemed  to  be  done  to  improve  the  situation,  though  in 
some  parts  of  the  country  there  were  large  surplus  stocks.  On 
March  8th  crowds  gathered  around  the  bakery  shops,  and  looted 


428  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

several  of  them.  The  next  day  the  crowds  in  the  streets  increased. 
Groups  of  Cossacks  rode  here  and  there,  fraternizing  with  the  peo- 
ple. They,  too,  were  hungry.  In  the  afternoon  two  workmen 
were  arrested  for  disorder  by  the  police.  A  band  of  Cossacks  freed 
them.  Street  speakers  began  to  appear  here  and  there,  and  crowds 
gathered  to  listen  to  their  fiery  denunciations  of  the  government. 

On  March  llth,  General  Khabalov,  military  governor  of 
the  city,  issued  a  proclamation  announcing  that  the  police  had 
orders  to  disperse  all  crowds,  and  that  any  workman  who  did  not 
return  to  work  on  Monday  morning  would  be  sent  to  the  trenches. 
The  main  streets  of  the  city  were  cleared  and  guarded  by  the 
police  and  soldiery.  The  crowds  were  enormous,  and  disorderly, 
and  more  than  two  hundred  of  the  rioters  were  killed.  Yet  it 
seemed  as  if  the  government  had  the  situation  in  a  firm  grasp, 
though  an  ominous  incident  was  that  the  Pavlovsk  regiment  on 
being  ordered  to  fire  upon  the  mob,  mutinied  and  had  to  be  ordered 
to  their  quarters. 

Meantime  Rodzianko,  the  President  of  the  Duma,  had  tele- 
graphed to  the  Czar: 

Situation  serious.  Anarchy  reigns  in  Capital.  Government  is 
paralyzed.  Transport  food  and  fuel  supplies  are  utterly  disorganized. 
General  discontent  is  growing.  Disorderly  firing  is  going  on  in  streets. 
Various  companies  of  soldiers  are  shooting  at  each  other.  It  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  invest  someone,  who  enjoys  the  confidence  of  the  people, 
with  powers  to  form  a  new  government.  No  time  must  be  lost,  and 
delay  may  be  fatal.  I  pray  to  God  that  in  this  hour  responsibility  may 
not  fall  on  the  wearer  of  the  crown. 

The  Prime  Minister,  Prince  Golitzin,  acting  under  powers 
which  he  had  received  from  the  Czar,  prorogued  the  Duma.  But 
the  Duma  refused  to  be  prorogued.  Its  President,  Rodzianko, 
holding  in  his  hand  the  order  for  dissolution,  announced  that  the 
Duma  was  now  the  sole  constitutional  authority  of  Russia. 

During  the  night  following,  the  soldiers  at  the  Capital,  and 
the  Socialists,  decided  upon  then*  course.  The  soldiers  deter- 
mined that  they  would  not  fire  upon  their  civilian  brothers.  The 
Socialists  planned  an  alternative  scheme  of  government. 

On  March  the  12th,  the  city  was  taken  possession  of  by  a 
mob.  The  Preo  Crajenski  Guards  refused  to  fire  upon  the  crowd. 
The  Volynsky  regiment,  sent  to  coerce  them,  joined  in  the  mutiny. 


RED   REVOLUTION  IN  RUSSIA  429 

Followed  by  the  mob,  the  two  regiments  seized  the  arsenal.  A 
force  of  25,000  soldiers  was  in  the  revolt.  At  1 1  A.  M.,  the  Courts  of 
Law  were  set  on  fire  and  the  fortress  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  was 
seized.  The  police,  fighting  desperately,  were  hunted  from  their 
quarters,  their  papers  destroyed  and  the  prisoners,  political  and 
criminal,  released  from  the  jails. 

During  the  day  the  Duma  kept  hi  constant  session,  awaiting 
the  Emperor,  who  did  not  come.  Telegram  after  telegram  was 
sent  him,  each  more  urgent.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  these 
telegrams  never  reached  the  Czar.  When  information  finally  did 
come  to  him  it  was  too  late.  Meantime  the  Duma  appointed  an 
executive  committee.  Their  names  were  Rodzianko,  Nekrasov, 
Konovalov,  Dmitrikov,  Lvov,  Rjenski,  Karaulov,  Miliukov,  Schled- 
lovski,  Schulgin,  Tcheidze  and  Kerensky.  The  workmen  and 
soldiers  also  formed  a  committee,  which  undertook  to  influence 
the  troops  now  pouring  into  Petrograd.  But  the  center  of  the 
revolution  was  still  the  Duma,  and  crowds  gathered  to  listen  to 
its  speeches.  In  the  evening  Protopovo  surrendered  to  the  Russian 
guards,  but  General  Khabalov  still  occupied  the  Admiralty  build- 
ing with  such  forces  as  were  faithful. 

On  March  13th  it  became  evident  that  the  army  in  the  field 
were  accepting  the  authority  of  the  provisional  government.  The 
Duma  committee  was  composed  mainly  of  men  of  moderate 
political  views.  They  moved  slowly,  fearing  on  the  one  hand  the 
Reactionaries  who  still  preserved  then*  loyalty  to  the  Czar,  and 
on  the  other  hand  the  Council  of  Labor,  with  its  extreme  views, 
and  its  influence  with  the  troops.  The  siege  of  the  Admiralty 
building  was  ended  by  the  surrender  of  General  Khabalov.  The 
police,  however,  were  still  keeping  up  a  desultory  resistance,  but 
the  mob  were  hunting  them  like  wild  beasts.  On  Wednesday, 
the  14th  of  March,  the  revolution  was  over. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Duma  and  the  Council  of  the 
Workmen's  and  Soldiers'  Delegates,  now  universally  known  as  the 
Soviet,  were  working  in  harmony.  Every  hour  proclamations  were 
issued,  some  of  them  foolish,  some  of  them,  it  is  thought,  inspired 
by  German  agents,  and  some  of  them  wise  and  patriotic.  One  of 
the  most  unfortunate  of  these  proclamations  was  one  to  the  army 
directing  that  "the  orders  of  the  War  Committee  must  be  obeyed, 
saving  only  on  those  occasions  when  they  shall  contravene  the 


430  HISTORY   OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

orders  and  regulations  of  the  labor  deputies  and  military  delegates." 
This  same  proclamation  abolished  saluting  for  private  soldiers  off 
duty.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  destruction  of  the  Russian 
military  power.  The  proclamation  of  the  Duma  committee  itself 
was  admirable: 

CITIZENS: 

The  Provisional  Executive  Committee  of  the  Duma,  with  the  aid 
and  support  of  the  garrison  of  the  capital  and  its  inhabitants,  has  now 
triumphed  over  the  baneful  forces  of  the  old  regime  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  enable  it  to  proceed  to  the  more  stable  organization  of  the  executive 
power.  With  this  object,  the  Provisional  Committee  will  name  ministers 
of  the  first  national  cabinet,  men  whose  past  public  activity  assures  them 
the  confidence  of  the  country. 

The  new  cabinet  will  adopt  the  following  principles  as  the  basis  of 
its  policy: 

1.  An  immediate  amnesty  for  all  political  and  religious  offenses, 
including  military  revolts,  acts  of  terrorism,  and  agrarian  crimes. 

2.  Freedom  of  speech,  of  the  press,  of  associations  and  labor  organiza- 
tions, and  the  freedom  to  strike;   with  an  extension  of  these  liberties  to 
officials  and  troops,  in  so  far  as  military  and  technical  conditions  permit. 

3.  The   abolition   of  social,   religious,   and   racial   restrictions   and 
privileges. 

4.  Immediate  preparation  for  the  summoning  of  a  Constituent  Assem- 
bly, which,  with  universal  suffrage  as  a  basis,  shall  establish  the  govern- 
mental regime  and  the  constitution  of  the  country. 

5.  The  substitution  for  the  police  of  a  national  militia,  with  elective 
heads  and  subject  to  the  self-governing  bodies. 

6.  Communal  elections  to  be  carried  out  on  the  basis  of  universal 
suffrage. 

7.  The  troops  that  have  taken  part  in  the  revolutionary  movement 
shall  not  be  disarmed,  but  they  are  not  to  leave  Petrograd. 

8.  While  strict  military  discipline  must  be  maintained  on  active 
service,  all  restrictions  upon  soldiers  in  the  enjoyment  of  social  rights 
granted  to  other  citizens  are  to  be  abolished. 

Meantime  the  Emperor,  "the  Little  Father,"  at  first  thoroughly 
incredulous  of  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  had  at  last  become 
alarmed.  He  appointed  General  Ivanov  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the^anny,  and  ordered  him  to  proceed  to  Petrograd  at  the  head  of 
a  division  of  loyal  troops.  General  Ivanov  set  out,  but  his  train 
was  held  up  at  Tsarkoe  Selo,  and  he  returned  to  Pskov.  The 
Czar  himself  then  started  for  the  city,  but  he,  too,  was  held  up 
at  the  little  station  of  Bologoi,  where  workmen  had  pulled  up  the 
track,  and  he  returned  to  Pskov. 


RED  REVOLUTION  IN  RUSSIA  431 

He  sent  for  Ruzsky  and  declared  that  he  was  ready  to  yield 
to  the  Duma  and  grant  a  responsible  ministry.  Ruzsky  advised 
him  to  get  hi  touch  with  Rodzianko,  and  as  a  result  of  a  telephone 
communication  with  Rodzianko  and  with  several  of  his  trusted 
generals,  it  became  clear  that  there  was  no  other  course  than 
abdication.  Guchkov  and  Shulgin,  messengers  from  the  Duma, 
arrived  on  the  evening  of  March  15th,  and  found  the  Emperor 
alone,  except  for  his  aide-de-camp,  Count  Fredericks. 

"What  do  you  want  me  to  do?"  he  asked. 

"You  must  abdicate,"  Guchkov  told  him,  "in  favor  of  your 
son,  with  the  Grand  Duke  Michael  Alexandrovitch  as  Regent." 

The  Emperor  sat  for  a  long  time  silent.  "  I  cannot  be  separated 
from  my  boy,"  he  said.  "I  will  hand  the  throne  to  my  brother." 
Taking  a  sheet  of  paper  he  wrote  as  follows : 

By  the  Grace  of  God,  We,  Nicholas  II,  Emperor  of  all  the  Russias, 
to  all  our  faithful  subjects: 

In  the  course  of  a  great  struggle  against  a  foreign  enemy,  who  has 
been  endeavoring  for  three  years  to  enslave  our  country,  it  has  pleased 
God  to  send  Russia  a  further  bitter  trial.  Internal  troubles  have  threatened 
to  compromise  the  progress  of  the  war.  The  destinies  of  Russia,  the 
honor  of  her  heroic  army,  the  happiness  of  her  people,  and  the  whole 
future  of  our  beloved  country  demand  that  at  all  costs  victory  shall  be 
won.  The  enemy  is  making  his  last  efforts,  and  the  moment  is  near 
when  our  gallant  troops,  in  concert  with  their  glorious  Allies,  will  finally 
overthrow  him. 

In  these  days  of  crisis  we  have  considered  that  our  nation  needs  the 
closest  union  of  all  its  forces  for  the  attainment  of  victory.  In  agreement 
with  the  Imperial  Duma,  we  have  recognized  that  for  the  good  of  our  land 
we  should  abdicate  the  throne  of  the  Russian  state  and  lay  down  the 
supreme  power. 

Not  wishing  to  separate  ourselves  from  our  beloved  son,  we  bequeath 
our  heritage  to  our  brother,  the  Grand  Duke  Michael  Alexandrovitch, 
with  our  blessing  upon  the  future  of  the  Russian  throne.  We  bequeath 
it  to  him  with  the  charge  to  govern  in  full  unison  with  the  national  repre- 
sentatives who  may  sit  in  the  legislature,  and  to  take  his  inviolable  oath 
to  them  in  the  name  of  our  well-beloved  country. 

We  call  upon  all  faithful  sons  of  our  land  to  fulfil  this  sacred  and 
patriotic  duty  in  obeying  their  Emperor  at  this  painful  moment  of  national 
trial,  and  to  aid  him,  together  with  the  representatives  of  the  nation, 
to  lead  the  Russian  people  in  the  way  of  prosperity  and  glory. 

May  God  help  Russia. 

So  ended  the  reign  of  Nicholas  the  Second,  Czar  of  all  the 
Russias.  The  news  of  the  Czar's  abdication  spread  over  the  world 


432  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

with  great  rapidity,  and  was  received  by  the  Allies  with  mixed 
feelings.  The  Czar  had  been  scrupulously  loyal  to.4;he  alliance. 
He  was  a  man  of  high  personal  character,  and  his  sympathies  on 
the  whole,  liberal;  but  he  was  a  weak  man  hi  a  position  in  which 
even  a  strong  man  might  have  failed.  He  was  easily  influenced, 
especially  by  his  wife.  Warned  again  and  again  of  the  danger 
before  him,  he  constantly  promised  improvement,  only  to  fail 
hi  keeping  his  promises.  He  deeply  loved  his  wife,  and  yielded 
continually  to  her  unwise  advice. 

The  Empress  Alexandra  Feodorovna  is  but  another  instance 
of  a  devoted  queen  who  dethroned  her  consort.  She  believed  in 
Divine  Right  and  looked  with  suspicion  upon  popular  leaders. 
Her  one  object  hi  life  was  to  hand  on  the  Russian  crown  to  her  son, 
with  no  atom  of  its  power  diminished.  She  surrounded  herself 
and  her  husband  with  scoundrels  and  charlatans. 

On  the  whole,  the  feeling  among  the  Allies  was  one  of  relief. 
There  was  a  general  distrust  of  the  influences  which  had  been  sur- 
rounding the  Czar.  The  patriotism  of  the  Grand  Duke  Michael 
was  well  known,  and  a  government  conducted  by  him  was  sure 
to  be  a  great  improvement.  But  it  was  not  to  be.  Before  the 
news  of  the  abdication  reached  Petrograd  a  new  ministry  had 
been  formed  by  the  Duma.  Miliukov  announced  then*  names 
and  explained  their  credentials.  The  Prime  Minister  was  Prince 
George  Lvov.  Miliukov  was  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Guchkov 
Minister  of  War  and  Marine,  Kerensky,  a  new  name  in  the  govern- 
ment, Minister  of  Justice.  The  ministry  included  representatives 
of  every  party  of  the  left  and  center. 

Miliukov  declared  that  their  credentials  came  from  the  Russian 
revolution:  "We  shall  not  fight  for  the  sake  of  power.  To  be 
in  power  is  not  a  reward  or  pleasure  but  a  sacrifice.  As  soon 
as  we  are  told  that  the  sacrifice  is  no  longer  needed,  we  shall  give 
up  our  places  with  gratitude  for  the  opportunity  which  has  been 
accorded  us." 

He  concluded  by  informing  his  hearers  that  the  despot  who 
had  brought  Russia  to  the  brink  of  ruin  would  either  abdicate  of 
his  free  will,  or  be  deposed.  He  added  that  the  Grand  Duke 
Michael  would  be  appointed  Regent. 

This  announcement  at  once  produced  an  explosion.  A  min- 
istry of  moderates  and  a  continuance  of  the  Imperial  government 


RED   REVOLUTION  IN  RUSSIA  433 

under  a  regency  stirred  the  delegates  of  the  workmen  and  soldiers 
to  revolt.  For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  new  government  would 
disappear  in  the  horrors  of  mob  rule.  But  Kerensky  saved  the 
situation.  Making  his  way  into  the  meeting  of  the  Soviet  he 
burst  into  an  impassioned  speech. 

"Comrades!"  he  cried,  "I  have  been  appointed  Minister  of 
Justice.  No  one  is  a  more  ardent  Republican  than  I,  but  we  must 
bide  our  tune.  Nothing  can  come  to  its  full  growth  at  once.  We 
shall  have  our  Republic  but  we  must  first  win  the  war.  The  need 
of  the  moment  is  organization  and  discipline  and  that  need  will 
not  wait." 

His  eloquence  carried  the  day.  The  Soviet  passed  a  resolu- 
tion supporting  the  provisional  government  with  only  fifteen  dis- 
senting votes.  But  it  had  been  made  clear  that  the  people  did  not 
approve  of  the  regency,  and  on  the  night  of  the  15th  of  March, 
Prince  Lvov,  Kerensky  and  other  leaders  of  the  Duma  sought 
out  the  Grand  Duke  Michael  and  informed  him  of  the  situation. 
The  Grand  Duke  yielded  to  the  people,  and  on  Friday,  March  the 
16th,  issued  a  declaration  which  ended  the  power  of  the  Romanovs 
hi  Russia: 

I  am  firmly  resolved  to  accept  the  supreme  power  only  if  this  should 
be  the  desire  of  our  great  people,  who  must,  by  means  of  a  plebiscite 
through  their  representatives  in  the  Constituent  Assembly,  establish 
the  form  of  government  and  the  new  fundamental  laws  of  the  Russian 
state.  Invoking  God's  blessing,  I,  therefore,  request  all  citizens  of  Russia 
to  obey  the  provisional  government,  set  up  on  the  initiative  of  the  Duma, 
and  invested  with  plenary  powers,  until  within  as  short  a  time  as  possible 
the  Constituent  Assembly  elected  on  a  basis  of  equal,  universal  and 
secret  suffrage,  shall  enforce  the  will  of  the  nation  regarding  the  future 
form  of  the  constitution. 

With  this  declaration  the  sacred  monarchy  had  disappeared. 
In  one  we*k  the  people  had  come  to  their  own  and  Russia  was 
free.  But  what  form  of  new  government  was  to  replace  the  old 
regime  was  still  the  question.  There  were  two  rival  theories  as 
to  the  principles  to  be  followed,  one  that  of  the  Moderates,  the 
other  of  the  Extremists.  The  Moderates,  who  controlled 
provisional  government  were  practical  men.  They  realized  that 
Russia  was  at  war  and  that  efficient  administration  was  the  great 
need. 

The  Extremists  of  the  Soviet  were  a  different  type  of  men. 


434  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

They  were  profoundly  ignorant  of  all  practical  questions  of  govern- 
ment; their  creed  was  socialism.  The  Socialistic  party  in  Russia 
may  be  divided  into  three  different  groups.  The  first,  the  Social 
Revolutionary  party,  came  into  prominence  in  Russia  about  1900. 
It  was  composed  of  followers  of  the  Russian  Lavrov  who  believed 
in  the  socialist  state,  but  a  state  which  should  not  be  a  tyrant 
overriding  the  individual.  Liberty  was  his  watchword  and  he 
made  his  appeal  not  only  to  the  workmen  in  the  shops  but  with  a 
special  force  to  the  peasant.  He  did  not  preach  class  war  in  the 
ordinary  sense,  and  believed  hi  the  value  of  national  life.  To  this 
party  belonged  Kerensky,  more  and  more  becoming  the  leader  of 
the  revolutionary  movement. 

The  second  group  of  the  Socialist  party  were  the  Bolsheviki. 
This  group  were  followers  of  the  German  Karl  Marx.  The  revo- 
lution which  they  sought  was  essentially  a  class  revolution.  To 
the  Bolsheviki  the  fate  of  their  country  mattered  not  at  all.  They 
were  eager  for  peace  on  any  terms.  The  only  war  in  which  they 
were  interested  was  a  class  war;  they  recognized  no  political  boun- 
daries. The  leader  of  this  group  was  Vladimir  Iljetch  Uljanov, 
who,  under  his  pen  name  of  Lenine,  was  already  widely  known  and 
who  had  now  obtained  the  opportunity  which  he  had  long  desired. 

The  third  group  were  the  Mensheviki.  The  Mensheviki 
believed  in  the  importance  of  the  working  classes,  but  they  did  not 
ignore  other  classes.  They  were  willing  to  use  existing  forms  of 
government  to  carry  out  the  reforms  they  desired.  They  saw 
that  the  Allied  cause  was  then*  own  cause,  the  cause  of  the  work- 
man as  well  as  the  intellectual. 

The  Soviet  contained  representatives  of  these  three  groups. 
It  did  not  represent  Russia,  but  it  was  hi  Petrograd  and  could 
exert  its  influence  directly  upon  the  government. 

The  attitude  of  the  provisional  government  toward  the 
Imperial  family  was  at  first  not  unkindly.  The  Czar  and  the 
Czarina  were  escorted  to  the  Alexandrovsky  Palace  hi  Tsarskoe- 
Selo.  The  Czar  for  a  tune  lived  quietly  as  plain  Nicholas  Romanov. 
The  Czarina  and  her  children  were  very  ill  with  measles,  the  case 
of  the  little  Prince  being  complicated  by  the  breaking  out  of  an 
old  wound  in  his  foot.  The  Grand  Duchess  Tatiana  was  in  a 
serious  condition  and  oxygen  had  been  administered.  As  his 
family  improved  in  health  the  Czar  amused  himself  by  strolls 


RED   REVOLUTION  IN  RUSSIA  435 

in  the  palace  yard,  and  even  by  shoveling  snow.  Later  on  Nicholas 
was  transferred  to  Tobolsk,  Siberia,  and  then,  hi  May,  1918,  to 
Yekaterinberg.  His  wife  and  his  daughter  Marie  accompanied 
him  to  the  latter  place,  while  Alexis  and  his  other  three  daughters 
remained  in  Tobolsk.  On  July  20th  a  Russian  government  dis- 
patch announced  his  assassination.  It  read  as  follows : 

At  the  first  session  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee,  elected  by 
the  Fifth  Congress  of  the  Councils,  a  message  was  made  public  that  had 
been  received  by  direct  wire  from  the  Ural  Regional  Council,  concerning 
the  shooting  of  the  ex-Czar,  Nicholas  Romanov.  Recently  Yekaterin- 
berg, the  Capital  of  the  Red  Urals,  was  seriously  threatened  by  the  approach 
of  Czecho-Slovak  bands,  and  a  counter-revolutionary  conspiracy  was 
discovered,  which  had  as  its  object  the  wresting  of  the  ex-Czar  from  the 
hands  of  the  Council's  authority.  In  view  of  this  fact  the  President  of 
the  Ural  Regional  Council  decided  to  shoot  the  ex-Czar,  and  the  decision 
was  carried  out  on  July  16th. 

The  wife  and  the  son  of  Nicholas  Romanov  had  been  sent 
to  a  place  of  security.  In  a  detailed  account  of  the  execution, 
published  in  Berlin,  it  appeared  that  the  Czar  had  been  awakened 
at  five  o'clock  hi  the  morning,  and  informed  that  he  was  to  be 
executed  in  two  hours.  He  spent  some  tune  with  a  priest  in  his 
bedroom  and  wrote  several  letters.  According  to  this  account, 
when  the  patrol  came  to  take  him  out  for  execution  he  was  found 
in  a  state  of  collapse.  Hi  a  last  words,  uttered  just  before  the 
executioners  fired,  are  reported  to  have  been  "Spare  my  wife  and 
my  innocent  and  unhappy  children.  May  my  blood  preserve 
Russia  from  ruin." 

The  Russian  press,  including  the  Socialist  papers,  condemned 
the  execution  as  a  cruel  and  unnecessary  act.  The  charges  of 
conspiracy  were  utterly  unproven,  and  were  merely  an  excuse. 
The  Central  Executive  Committee,  however,  accepted  the  decision 
of  the  Ural  Regional  Soviet  as  being  regular,  and  a  decree  by  the 
Bolshevist  Government  declared  all  the  property  of  the  former 
Emperor,  his  wife,  his  mother  and  all  the  members  of  the  Imperial 
house,  forfeit  to  the  Soviet  Republic. 

Meantime  the  provisional  government,  which  had  taken  power 
on  the  16th  of  March,  seemed  as  if  it  might  succeed.  Miliukov, 
whose  announcement  of  the  Regency  had  made  him  unpopular, 
declared  for  a  Republic.  The  great  army  commanders  for  the 
most  part  accepted  the  revolution.  The  Grand  Duke  Nicholas 


436 


HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 


was  removed  from  his  command  and  the  other  Grand  Dukes  were 
ordered  not  to  leave  Petrograd.  Alexiev  became  commander-in- 
chief;  Ruzsky  had  the  northern  group  of  armies,  Brusilov  the 
southern;  Kornilov  was  in  command  of  Petrograd,  and  the  cen- 
tral group  was  put  under  the  command  of  Lechitsky.  Reports 
came  that  discipline  was  improving  everywhere  on  the  front. 

The  plans  of  the  government,  too,  met  with  general  approval. 
Their  policy  was  announced  by  Prince  Lvov.  "The  new  govern- 
ment considers  it  its  duty  to  make  known  to  the  world  thaUthe 


CAPITAL  OF  THE  NEW  REPUBLIC  OP  RUSSIA 


object  of  free  Russia  is  not  to  dominate  other  nations  and  forcibly 
to  take  away  then-  territory.  The  object  of  independent  Russia 
is  a  permanent  peace  and  the  right  of  all  nations  to  determine 
their  own  destiny." 

Kerensky,  hi  inspiring  speeches,  encouraged  the  country  to 
war,  and  declared  against  a  separate  peace.  The  new  government 
announced  that  Poland  was  to  receive  complete  independence, 
with  a  right  to  determine  its  own  form  of  government,  and  its 
slation,  if  any,  to  Russia.  In  Finland  the  Governor,  Sein,  was 
removed.  A  Liberal  was  appointed  Governor  and  the  Finnish 


RED   REVOLUTION  IN  RUSSIA  437 

Diet  was  convened.  A  manifesto  was  issued  on  March  21st, 
completely  restoring  the  Finnish  constitution.  To  the  Armenians 
Kerensky  expressed  himself  as  in  favor  of  an  autonomous  govern- 
ment for  them,  under  Russia's  protection,  and  on  March  25th, 
absolute  equality  of  the  Jews  was  proclaimed  by  the  new  govern- 
ment. A  number  of  Jews  were  made  officers  hi  the  army,  and 
two  Jewish  advocates  were  appointed  members  of  the  Russian 
Senate  and  of  the  Supreme  Court.  On  April  4th  full  religious 
liberty  was  proclaimed,  and  on  the  same  date  the  Prune  Minister 
promised  a  delegation  of  women  that  women  would  be  given  the 
right  to  vote. 

These  acts  caused  a  general  subsidence  of  unrest,  and  public 
good  feeling  was  increased  by  the  return  of  the  political  exiles 
and  prisoners  from  Siberia.  A  full  hundred  thousand  of  such  pris- 
oners were  released,  and  their  progress  across  Siberia  to  Russia 
was  one  grand  triumphal  march. 

The  most  celebrated  of  these  political  prisoners  were  two 
women,  Catherine  Breshkovskaya  and  Marie  Spiridonova.  Cath- 
erine Breshkovskaya  was  known  as  the  grandmother  of  the  revolu- 
tion. Forty-four  years  of  her  life  were  spent  hi  exile.  When 
she  reached  Petrograd  she  was  met  at  the  railroad  depot  by  a 
military  band,  and  carried  hi  procession  through  the  streets. 
Equally  popular  was  Marie  Spiridonova,  who,  though  still  young, 
had  suffered  martyrdom.  She  had  been  tortured  with  cruelty 
that  is  unprintable.  Her  face  had  been  disfigured  for  life.  The 
agents  who  had  inflicted  the  torture  were  assassinated  by  the 
revolutionists. 

It  was  a  great  day  for  Russia,  and  the  outlook  seemed  full  of 
promise. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 
THE  DESCENT  TO  BOLSHEVISM 


r  I  ^HE  hopes  entertained  for  the  new  Republic  of  Russia  were 
doomed  to  disappointment.  For  a  short  time,  under  the 
leadership  of  Lvov,  the  Russians  marched  along  the  path 
of  true  democracy.  But  the  pace  became  too  rapid. 

The  government  prospered  in  Petrograd,  and  the  economic 
organization  of  the  country  proceeded  with  great  speed.  An  eight- 
hour  day  was  introduced  in  the  capital  and  in  many  other  cities 
throughout  the  republic.  The  fever  of  organization  spread  even 
to  the  peasants.  They  formed  a  Council  of  Peasants'  Deputies, 
modeled  after  the  Council  of  Workmen  and  Soldiers.  On  the  13th 
of  April,  1917,  came  the  first  meeting  of  the  All-Russia  Congress 
of  Soviets,  and  with  it  a  revival  of  the  differences  of  opinion  which 
ultimately  were  to  destroy  the  government.  The  great  majority 
were  for  war,  but  the  minority,  led  by  Lenine  and  the  Bolsheviki 
element,  demanded  an  immediate  peace.  They  declared  that  the 
enemies  of  the  Revolution  were  not  the  Central  Powers,  but  the 
capitalists  in  all  countries,  and  not  least  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment of  Russia. 

Some  clew  to  the  meaning  of  the  Bolsheviki  movement  in 
Russia  is  to  be  found  in  the  life  of  Lenine,  its  leading  spirit.  It 
has  been  charged  that  he  was  the  tool  of  the  German  Government. 
He  undoubtedly  received  facilities  from  the  German  Government 
to  return  to  Russia  from  Switzerland  immediately  after  the  Revo- 
lution in  March.  His  whole  career,  however,  suggests  that  he  was 
not  a  tool,  but  a  fanatic. 

He  was  born  in  Simbirsk,  in  Central  Russia,  in  the  year  1870. 
Lenine  was  only  one  of  the  several  aliases  that  he  had  found  it 
necessary  to  adopt  at  various  times.  He  was  of  good  family,  and 
received  his  education  at  the  Petrograd  University.  From  the 
very  beginning  he  took  an  active  interest  in  the  political  and  social 
problems  of  the  day.  In  1887  his  brother,  A.  Uljanov,  was  arrested, 
and  after  a  secret  trial  condemned  to  death  and  hanged  as  a  partici- 

438 


Underwood  and  Underwood,  N.  Y 


THE   WOMEN'S   "BATTALION   OF   DEATH"   IN   NATIONAL   DANCE 

A  unique  outgrowth  of   the  Russian  revolution  was  this  organization  of  W 
which  came  into  prominence  at  the  beginning  of  the  Russian  front's  break-up. 


©  Underwood  and  Underwood,  N.  Y. 

DEMONSTRATION  OF  CITIZENS  BEFORE  THIS   WINTER  PALACI 
The  formation  of  the  Red  Guard  adopting  the  propaganda  of  the  Bolshevists 

resulted,  which  drove  Russia  into  a  chaos  of  Revolution. 


THE   DESCENT  TO  BOLSHEVISM  441 

pant  in  a  plot  to  wreck  the  imperial  train  carrying  Alexander  III. 
Lenine  was  also  arrested,  but  was  released  on  account  of  a  lack  of 
evidence.  At  this  time  the  Russian  Socialistic  movement  was 
still  in  its  infancy. 

Lenine  spent  his  Sundays  in  a  circle  of  uneducated  workmen, 
explaining  to  them  the  elements  of  socialistic  economics.  Along 
with  this  propaganda  work  he  studied  deeply  the  economic  phases 
of  Russian  life,  being  especially  interested  in  its  working  and  peasant 
classes.  He  wrote  several  books  on  the  subject,which  are  still 
accepted  as  valuable  representatives  of  Russian  economic  literature. 
Because  of  his  socialistic  activities,  Lenine  was  compelled  to  leave 
Russia  on  several  occasions,  when  he  lived  in  Switzerland,  France 
and  Austria.  From  these  countries  he  directed  the  work  of  one 
of  the  groups  of  the  Social  Democratic  party,  and  became  an  impor- 
tant leader. 

In  the  General  Russian  Socialistic  Convention,  held  in  1903, 
this  group  made  a  definite  stand  for  its  program  and  policies.  This 
was  the  tune  when  the  word  "Bolsheviki"  was  corned,  meaning 
the  ''majority,"  who  had  voted  in  accord  with  Lenine's  proposals. 
Lenine  believed  in  the  seizure  of  political  power  by  means  of  violent 
revolution  and  in  establishing  a  proletarian  government.  After 
the  Revolution  of  1905,  the  Lenine  faction  dwindled  and  it  seemed 
as  if  Bolshevism  was  destined  to  die  out.  But  in  1911,  with  the 
awakening  of  a  new  spirit  in  the  political  and  social  life  of  Russia, 
a  new  impetus  was  given  to  the  activities  of  the  Bolsheviki.  The 
first  Socialist  daily  paper,  Pravda,  ("the  Truth,")  was  one  of  their 
efforts.  In  1913  the  Bolsheviki  sent  six  representatives  to  the 
Duma. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  Lenine  was  in  Cracow.  Like 
other  revolutionary  leaders  he  was  compelled  to  live  hi  exile.  He 
went  to  Switzerland  where  he  remained  until  the  news  of  the  suc- 
cessful revolution  caused  his  return  to  Russia.  On  his  arrival  in 
Petrograd  he  gathered  together  his  followers  and  began  the  agita- 
tion in  favor  of  the  Bolshevist  program  and  of  peace. 

The  first  sign  of  the  conflict  between  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment and  the  Soviet  arose  in  connection  with  the  joint  note  sent 
to  the  Allies  by  the  Provisional  Government  on  May  1st.  This 
note  was  signed  by  Foreign  Secretary  Miliukov.  It  declared, 
among  other  things,  that  the  Provisional  Government  would 


442  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

"maintain  a  strict  regard  for  its  engagements  with  the  Allies  of 

Russia." 

The  document  aroused  strong  disapproval  among  many 
members  of  the  Council  of  the  Soviet,  and  serious  anti-government 
demonstrations  occurred  in  Petrograd  on  May  3d  and  4th.  These 
demonstrations  were  directed  distinctly  against  Miliukov.  Detach- 
ments of  soldiers  and  workmen  gathered  in  front  of  the  headquarters 
of  the  Provisional  Government,  carrying  banners,  with  inscriptions 
' '  Down  with  Miliukov !  Down  with  the  Provisional  Government ! ' ' 
Miliukov  appealed  to  the  crowd  for  confidence,  and  his  words 
were  greeted  with  hearty  cheering. 

The  Soviet  Council  ultimately  voted  confidence  in  the  govern- 
ment by  a  narrow  margin  of  35  in  a  total  of  2,500.  But  the  agita- 
tion against  the  government  persisted,  and  on  May  16th  Miliukov 
resigned.  General  Kornilov,  Commander  of  the  Petrograd  Garri- 
son, and  Guchkov,  Minister  of  War,  finding  their  control  of  the 
army  weakened  by  the  interference  of  the  Soviet  Council,  also 
resigned. 

The  situation  became  critical.  As  a  result  of  this  agitation  a 
new  coalition  government  was  formed.  Prince  Lvov  remained 
Prime  Minister.  Terestchenko  became  Foreign  Minister.  Most 
significant  of  all,  Kerensky  became  the  Minister  of  War.  The  new 
government  issued  a  new  declaration  of  policy,  promising  a  firm 
support  of  the  war  with  Germany,  and  an  effort  to  call  together 
at  the  earliest  possible  date  a  Constituent  Assembly  to  deal  with 
questions  of  land  and  of  finance.  This  manifesto  was  received  coldly 
by  the  Soviets  and  their  press. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Allies  sent  special  missions  to 
Russia  to  aid  the  Russian  Government  in  forwarding  the  fight 
against  the  common  enemy.  The  American  mission  to  Russia 
was  headed  by  Elihu  Root,  former  Secretary  of  State.  It  was 
cordially  received,  and  housed  in  the  former  Winter  Palace  of  the 
Czar.  On  June  15th  the  American  Ambassador,  David  R.  Francis, 
presented  the  Root  mission  to  the  Council  of  Ministers  hi  the  Marin- 
sky  Palace,  and  Mr.  Root  made  an  eloquent  address,  declaring  the 
sympathy  of  the  American  Republic  with  the  new  Russian  Democ- 
racy. He  declared  that  the  liberty  of  both  nations  was  in  danger. 
"The  armed  forces  of  military  autocracy  are  at  the  gates  of  Russia 
and  the  Allies.  The  triumph  of  German  arms  will  mean  the  death 


THE   DESCENT  TO  BOLSHEVISM  443 

of  liberty  in  Russia.  No  enemy  is  at  the  gates  of  America,  but 
America  has  come  to  realize  that  the  triumph  of  German  arms 
means  the  death  of  Liberty  in  the  world." 

At  Moscow  Mr.  Root  addressed  representatives  of  the  Zemstvo 
and  the  local  Council  of  the  Workmen  and  Soldiers.  He  was 
warmly  applauded,  and  on  motion  of  the  Mayor  a  telegram  was 
sent  to  President  Wilson,  thanking  him  for  sending  the  Root 
Commission  to  Russia.  The  Root  Mission  returned  to  the  United 
States  early  in  August,  and  reported  to  Washington  August  12th. 
At  a  public  reception  given  by  the  citizens  of  New  York,  Senator 
Root  expressed  supreme  confidence  in  the  stability  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. 

On  July  1st,  inspired  by  Kerensky,  and  under  the  personal 
leadership  of  General  Kornilov,  the  Russian  army  began  an 
offensive  in  Galicia.  It  first  met  with  complete  success,  capturing 
Halicz,  and  sweeping  forward  close  to  Dolina  in  the  Carpathian 
foothills.  Then  under  a  very  slight  hostile  German  pressure,  the 
Russian  armies,  immediately  to  the  north  and  south  of  Kornilov's 
army,  broke  and  ran.  This  action  was  directly  traced  to  orders 
subversive  of  discipline,  emanating  from  the  Petrograd  Soviet. 
Kornilov's  army  was  compelled  to  retire,  and  by  July  21st  was  hi 
full  retreat  from  Galicia. 

The  Russian  mutiny  spread.  Regiments  refused  to  fight  or 
to  obey  their  officers. 

One  of  the  most  picturesque  episodes  of  this  phase  of  the 
war  was  the  formation  of  a  woman's  regiment,  known  as  the 
"Command  of  Death,"  which  was  reviewed  at  Petrograd  June  21st, 
by  Minister  of  War,  Kerensky.  In  front  of  the  barracks  assigned 
to  this  regiment  a  visitor  found  posted  at  the  gate  a  little  blue- 
eyed  sentry  in  a  soldier's  khaki  blouse,  short  breeches,  green  forage 
cap,  ordinary  woman's  black  stockings  and  neat  shoes.  The 
sentry  was  Mareya  Skridlov,  daughter  of  Admiral  Skridlov,  former 
commander  of  the  Baltic  fleet  and  Minister  of  Marines.  In  the 
courtyard  three  hundred  girls  were  drilling,  mostly  between  18  and 
25  years  old,  of  good  physique  and  many  of  them  pretty.  They 
wore  then-  hair  short  or  had  their  heads  entirely  shaved.  They 
were  drilling  under  the  instruction  of  a  male  sergeant  of  the 
Volynsky  regiment,  and  marched  to  an  exaggerated  goose  step. 

The  girl  commander,  Lieutenant  Buitchkarev,  explained  that 


444  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

most  of  the  recruits  were  from  the  higher  educational  academies, 
with  a  few  peasants,  factory  girls  and  servants.  Some  married 
women  were  accepted,  but  none  who  had  children.  The  Battalion 
of  Death  distinguished  itself  on  the  field,  setting  an  example  of 
courage  to  the  mutinous  regiments  during  the  retreat  of  Brusilov. 

With  the  army  thus  demoralized  the  Russian  Revolution 
encountered  a  perilous  period  toward  the  end  of  July,  1917,  and 
civil  war  or  anarchy  seemed  almost  at  hand,  when  out  of  the 
depths  of  the  national  spirit  there  arose  a  new  revolution  to  save 
the-  situation  and  to  maintain  order.  The  country  was  every- 
where the  scene  of  riotous  disturbances.  Anarchists,  radicals, 
and  monarchists  seemed  to  be  working  hand-in-hand  to  precipitate 
a  reign  of  terror,  when  once  more  Kerensky  saved  the  situation. 
On  July  20th,  it  was  announced  that  the  Premier,  Prince  Lvov,  had 
resigned,  and  that  Alexander  Kerensky  had  been  appointed 
Premier,  but  would  also  retain  his  portfolio  as  Minister  of  War. 

A  new  government  was  quickly  formed.  Kerensky  was  made 
practical  Dictator,  and  his  government  received  the  complete 
endorsement  of  a  joint  Congress  of  the  Soviets  and  the  Council  of 
peasant  delegates.  Kerensky  acted  with  the  utmost  vigor.  Orders 
were  given  to  fire  on  deserters  and  warrants  issued  for  the  arrest 
of  revolutionary  agitators  whoever  they  might  be.  Rear-Admiral 
Verdervski,  commander  of  the  Baltic  fleet,  was  seized  for  com- 
municating a  secret  government  telegram  to  sailors'  committees. 
Agitators  from  the  Soviet  were  arrested,  charged  with  inciting  the 
Peterhof  troops  against  the  Federal  Government.  On  July  22d, 
the  following  resolution  was  passed  by  the  joint  Congress. 

Recognizing  that  the  country  is  menaced  by  a  military  debacle  on 
the  front  and  by  anarchy  at  home,  it  is  resolved : 

1.  That  the  country  and  the  revolution  are  in  danger. 

2.  That  the  Provisional  Government  is  proclaimed  the  Government 
of  National  Safety. 

3.  That  unlimited  powers  are  accorded  the  government  for  re-estab- 
lishing the  organization  and  discipline  of  the  army  for  a  fight  to  a  finish 
against  the  enemies  of  public  order,  and  for  the  realization  of  the  whole 
program  embodied  in  the  governmental  program  just  announced. 

The  reorganization  of  the  Councils  of  the  All-Russia,  and 
Workmen's  and  Peasants'  Organizations  on  the  23d,  issued  a 
ringing  address  to  the  army  denouncing  its  mutinous  spirit  and 


THE  DESCENT  TO  BOLSHEVISM  445 

warning  it  of  the  inevitable  result.  The  Provisional  Government 
also  issued  a  proclamation  on  July  22d,  charging  that  the  dis- 
orders were  precipitated  to  bring  about  a  counter-revolution  by 
the  enemies  of  the  country.  But  the  army  was  demoralized.  It 
disregarded  discipline  and  refused  to  recognize  military  rule.  A 
general  retreat  followed.  The  Germans  and  Austrians  steadily 
advanced  through  Galicia  and  crossed  the  frontier  before  the  Rus- 
sian armies  could  be  forced  to  make  a  stand. 

The  death  penalty  for  treason  or  mutiny  was  restored  in  the 
army  on  July  25th,  when  Kerensky  threatened  to  resign  unless 
this  was  done.  On  that  same  date  the  government  authorized 
the  Minister  of  the  Interior  to  suspend  the  publication  of  periodicals 
that  incite  to  insubordination  or  disobedience  to  orders  given  by 
the  military  authorities.  By  July  28th  the  situation  had  become 
more  hopeful.  On  that  day  General  Ruzsky,  formerly  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  northern  armies  of  Russia,  and  General  Gurko, 
ex-commander  on  the  Russian  southwestern  front,  were  sum- 
moned, to  Petrograd.  Each  had  retired  on  account  of  the  inter- 
ference of  the  Council  of  Workmen  and  Soldiers'  delegates.  Their 
return  to  the  service  was  a  hopeful  sign.  The  Soviet  also  passed 
by  an  overwhelming  majority  a  resolution  censuring  Lenine,  and 
demanding  that  he  should  be  publicly  tried.  Charges  had  been 
made  that  Lenine  and  his  associates  were  working  under  German 
direction  and  financed  by  Germans.  On  August  2d,  Kornilov 
became  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Russian  army.  A  disagree- 
ment in  the  Cabinet  led  to  its  reorganization.  In  the  new  Cabinet 
appeared  again  representatives  of  the  Constitutional  Democratic 
party.  Conditions  began  to  show  improvement  from  this  tune 
forth. 

An  extraordinary  National  Council  met  at  Moscow  August 
26th,  1917.  This  conference  consisted  of  2,500  delegates  repre- 
senting the  Duma,  the  Soviets,  the  Zemstvos,  and  indeed  all 
organized  Russia.  Kerensky  opened  the  conference  in  a  speech 
of  great  length  in  which  he  reviewed  the  general  situation,  declar- 
ing that  the  destructive  period  of  the  Revolution  had  past  and 
that  the  time  had  come  to  consolidate  its  conquests. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  address  before  the  Council  was 
that  made  by  General  Kornilov,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army. 
General  Kornilov  was  received  with  prolonged  cheers,  which  in 


446  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  light  of  his  subsequent  action  were  especially  significant. 
General  Kornilov  described  with  much  detail  the  disorganization 
and  insubordination  in  the  army,  and  continued: 

"We  are  implacably  fighting  anarchy  in  the  army.  Undoubt- 
edly it  will  finally  be  repressed,  but  the  danger  of  fresh  debacles  is 
weighing  constantly  on  the  country.  The  situation  on  the  front 
is  bad.  We  have  lost  the  whole  of  Galicia,  the  whole  of  Bukowina, 
and  all  the  fruits  of  our  recent  victories.  If  Russia  wishes  to  be 
saved  the  army  must  be  regenerated  at  any  cost."  General  Korni- 
lov then  outlined  the  most  important  of  the  reform  measures  which 
he  recommended,  and  concluded:  "I  believe  that  the  genius  and 
the  reason  of  the  Russian  people  will  save  the  country.  I  believe 
in  a  brilliant  future  for  our  army.  I  believe  its  ancient  glory  will 
be  restored." 

General  Kaledines,  leader  of  the  Don  Cossacks,  mounted  the 
tribune  and  read  a  resolution  passed  by  the  Cossacks  demanding 
the  continuation  of  the  war  until  complete  victory  was  attained. 
He  defied  the  extreme  Radicals.  "Who  saved  you  from  the  Bol- 
sheviki  on  the  14th  of  July?"  he  asked  contemptuously.  "We 
Cossacks  have  been  free  men.  We  are  not  made  drunk  by  our 
new-found  liberties  and  are  unblinded  by  party  or  program.  We 
tell  you  plainly  and  categorically,  'Remove  yourselves  from  the 
place  which  you  have  neither  the  ability  or  the  courage  to  fill,  and 
let  better  men  than  yourselves  step  in,  or  take  the  consequences  of 
your  folly."1 

The  conference  took  no  definite  action,  being  invested  with  no 
authority,  but  it  served  to  bring  out  clearly  the  line  of  cleavage 
between  the  Radical  or  Socialistic  element  represented  by  Kerensky 
and  the  Conservatives  represented  by  the  generals  of  the  army. 

Immediately  on  the  heels  of  the  Moscow  conference  an  impor- 
tant German  advance  was  made  in  the  direction  of  Riga,  the  most 
important  Russian  Baltic  port.  In  spite  of  a  vigorous  defense  the 
Germans  captured  the  city. 

The  loss  of  Riga  intensified  the  political  excitement  in  Russia, 
and  produced  a  profound  crisis.  A  wave  of  unrest  spread  through- 
out the  country.  The  Grand  Duke  Michael,  and  the  Grand  Duke 
Paul  with  their  families,  were  arrested  on  a  charge  of  conspiracy. 
The  Provisional  Government  was  charged  with  responsibility  of 
the  collapse  of  the  army. 


THE   DESCENT  TO   BOLSHEVISM  447 

It  was  on  September  9th,  that  the  storm  broke,  and  General 
Korniloy,  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Russian  armies,  raised 
the  flag  of  revolt  against  the  Provisional  Government.  The  details 
of  the  revolt  are  as  follows: 

At  one  o'clock  Saturday  afternoon,  Deputy  Lvov,  of  the 
Duma,  called  upon  Premier  Kerensky,  and  declared  that  he  had 
come  as  the  representative  of  General  Kornilov  to  demand  the 
surrender  of  all  power  into  Kornilov's  hands.  M.  Lvov  said  that 
this  demand  did  not  emanate  from  Kornilov  only  but  was  supported 
by  an  organization  of  Duma  members,  Moscow  industrial  interests, 
and  other  conservatives.  This  group,  said  M.  Lvov,  did  not 
object  to  Kerensky  personally,  but  demanded  that  he  transfer 
the  Portfolio  of  War  to  M.  Savinkov,  assistant  Minister  of  War, 
who  all  along  had  supported  Kornilov. 

"If  you  agree,"  M.  Lvov  added,  "we  invite  you  to  come  to 
headquarters  and  meet  General  Kornilov,  giving  you  a  solemn 
guarantee  that  you  will  not  be  arrested." 

Premier  Kerensky  replied  that  he  could  not  believe  Kornilov 
to  be  guilty  of  such  an  act  of  treason,  and  that  he  would  commu- 
nicate with  him  directly.  In  an  exchange  of  telegrams  Kornilov 
confirmed  fully  to  the  Premier  his  demands.  Kerensky  promptly 
placed  Lvov  under  arrest,  denounced  Kornilov  as  a  traitor  and 
deposed  him  from  his  position  as  Commander-in-Chief,  General 
Klembovsky  being  appointed  in  his  place.  General  Koniilov 
responded  to  the  order  of  dismissal  by  moving  an  army  against  the 
Capital. 

Martial  law  was  declared  in  Moscow  and  hi  Petrograd. 
Kerensky  assumed  the  functions  of  Commander-in-Chief  and  took 
military  measures  to  defend  Petrograd  and  resist  the  rebels.  On 
the  12th  it  was  clear  that  the  Kornilov  revolt  had  failed  to  receive 
the  expected  support.  Kornilov  advanced  toward  Petrograd, 
and  occupied  Jotchina,  thirty  miles  southwest  of  the  Capital,  but 
there  was  no  bloodshed.  On  the  night  of  the  13th,  General 
Alexief  demanded  Kornilov's  unconditional  surrender,  and  the 
revolt  collapsed.  Kornilov  was  arrested  and  the  Provisional 
Government  reconstituted  on  stronger  lines. 

After  the  so-called  Kornilov  revolt,  the  Russian  Revolution 
assumed  a  form  which  might  almost  be  called  stable.  A  democratic 
congress  met  at  Moscow,  September  27th,  and  adopted  a  resolu- 


448  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

tion  providing  for  a  preliminary  parliament  to  consist  of  231 
members,  of  whom  110  were  to  represent  the  Zemstvos  and  the 
towns.  The  congress  refused  its  sanction  to  a  coalition  cabinet 
in  which  the  Constitutional  Democrats  should  participate,  but 
Kerensky  practically  defied  the  congress,  and  named  a  coalition 
cabinet,  in  which  several  portfolios  were  held  by  members  of 
the  Constitutional  Democratic  Party.  The  new  government 
issued  a  statement  declaring  that  it  had  three  principal  aims: 
to  raise  the  fighting  power  of  the  army  and  navy;  to  bring 
order  to  the  country  by  fighting  anarchy;  to  call  the  Constitu- 
ent Assembly  as  soon  as  possible.  The  Constituent  Assembly 
was  called  to  assemble  in  December.  It  was  to  consist  of  732 
delegates  to  be  elected  by  popular  vote. 

Meantime  agitation  against  the  Coalition  Government  con- 
tinued. On  November  1st,  the  Premier  issued  a  statement  through 
the  Associated  Press,  to  all  the  newspapers  of  the  Entente,  which 
conveyed  the  information  that  he  almost  despaired  of  restoring 
civil  law  in  the  distracted  country.  He  said  that  he  felt  that  help 
was  needed  urgently  and  that  Russia  asked  it  as  her  right.  "  Russia 
has  fought  consistently  since  the  beginning,"  he  said.  "She 
saved  France  and  England  from  disaster  early  in  the  war.  She  is 
worn  out  by  the  strain  and  claims  as  her  right  that  the  Allies  now 
shoulder  the  burden." 

On  November  7th,  an  armed  insurrection  against  the  Coali- 
tion Government  and  Premier  Kerensky  was  precipitated  by  the 
Bolsheviki  faction.  The  revolt  was  headed  by  Leon  Trotzky, 
President  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of  the  Petrograd 
Council,  with  Nicholas  Lenine,  the  Bolsheviki  leader.  The  Revo- 
lutionists seized  the  offices  of  the  telephone  and  telegraph  com- 
panies and  occupied  the  state  bank  and  the  Marie  Palace  where 
the  preliminary  Parliament  had  been  sitting.  The  garrison  at 
Petrograd  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Bolsheviki  and  complete 
control  was  seized  with  comparatively  little  fighting.  The  govern- 
ment troops  were  quickly  overpowered,  except  at  the  Winter 
Palace,  whose  chief  guardians  were  the  Woman's  Battalion,  and 
the  Military  Cadets.  The  Woman's  Battalion  fought  bravely,  and 
suffered  terribly,  and  with  the  Military  Cadets  who  also  remained 
true,  held  the  Palace  for  several  hours.  The  Bolsheviki  brought 
up  armored  cars  and  the  cruiser  Aurora,  and  turned  the  guns  of 


THE  DESCENT  TO  BOLSHEVISM  449 

the  Fortress  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  upon  the  Palace  before  its 
defenders  would  surrender. 

That  evening  the  Revolutionary  Committee  issued  a  char- 
acteristic proclamation,  denouncing  the  government  of  Kerensky 
as  opposed  to  the  government  and  the  people,  and  calling  upon 
the  soldiers  in  the  army  to  arrest  their  officers  if  they  did  not  at 
once  join  the  Revolution.  They  announced  the  following 
program: 

First:   The  offer  of  an  immediate  democratic  peace. 

Second:  The  immediate  handing  over  of  large  proportional  lands  to 
the  peasants. 

Third:  The  transmission  of  all  authority  to  the  Council  of  Work- 
men's and  Soldiers'  Delegates. 

Fourth:   The  honest  convocation  of  the  Constituent  Assembly. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Council,  Trotzky  declared  that  the  govern- 
ment no  longer  existed,  and  introduced  Lenine  as  an  old  comrade 
whom  he  welcomed  back.  Lenine  was  received  with  prolonged 
cheers,  and  said:  "Now  we  have  a  Revolution.  The  peasants 
and  workmen  control  the  government.  This  is  only  a  preliminary 
step  toward  a  similar  revolution  everywhere." 

Proclamation  after  proclamation  came  from  the  new  govern- 
ment. In  one  of  them  it  was  stated  "M.  Kerensky  has  taken 
flight,  and  all  military  bodies  have  been  empowered  to  take  all 
possible  measures  to  arrest  Kerensky  and  bring  him  back  to 
Petrograd.  All  complicity  with  Kerensky  will  be  dealt  with  as 
high  treason." 

A  Bolsheviki  Cabinet  was  named.  The  Premier  was  Nicholas 
Lenine;  the  Foreign  Minister,  Leon  Trotzky.  The  other  Cabinet 
members  were  all  Bolsheviki,  including  Bibenko,  a  Kronstadt 
sailor,  of  the  Committee  on  War  and  Marine,  and  Shliapnikov,  a 
laborer,  who  was  Minister  of  Labor.  Lenine's  personality  has 
already  been  described.  Trotzky,  the  chief  aid  of  Lenine's  rebel- 
lion, had  been  living  in  New  York  City  three  months  before  the 
Czar  was  overthrown,  but  he  had  previously  been  expelled  from 
Germany,  France,  Switzerland  and  Spain.  His  real  name  was 
Leber  Braunstein,  and  he  was  born  in  the  Russian  Government 
of  Kherson,  near  the  Black  Sea. 

When  the  insurrection  occurred,  Kerensky  succeeded  in  escap- 
ing from  Petrograd,  and  persuaded  about  two  thousand  Cossacks, 


450  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

several  hundred  Military  Cadets,  and  a  contingent  of  Artillery, 
to  fight  under  his  banner.  He  advanced  toward  Petrograd,  but 
his  forces  were  greatly  outnumbered  by  the  Bolsheviki.  At 
Tsarskoe-Selo  a  battle  took  place,  the  Kerensky  troops  met  defeat, 
and  its  leader  saved  himself  by  flight. 

At  Moscow  the  entire  city  passed  into  the  control  of  the 
Bolsheviki  but  not  without  severe  fighting  in  which  more  than 
three  thousand  people  were  slain.  On  the  collapse  of  the  Kerensky 
government  conditions  throughout  Russia  became  chaotic. 
Ukraine  declared  its  independence,  and  Finland  also  severed  its 
connection  with  Russia.  General  Kaledines  declared  against  the 
Bolsheviki,  and  organized  an  army  to  save  the  country.  Siberia, 
Bessarabia,  Lithuania,  the  Caucasus  and  other  districts  declared 
their  complete  independence  of  the  Central  Government. 

The  Bolsheviki,  hi  control  at  Petrograd,  opened  negotiations 
with  the  Central  Powers  for  an  armistice  along  the  entire  front 
from  the  Baltic  to  Asia  Minor,  and  on  December  17th,  such  an 
armistice  went  into  effect.  Meanwhile  they  began  negotiations 
for  a  treaty  of  peace.  General  Dukholin,  the  Commander-in-Chief , 
on  November  20th,  was  ordered  by  Lenine  to  propose  the  armistice. 
To  this  request  he  made  no  reply,  and  on  November  21st,  he  was 
deposed  and  Ensign  Krylenko  was  appointed  the  new  Commander- 
in-Chief.  General  Dukholin  was  subsequently  murdered,  by 
being  thrown  from  a  train  after  the  Bolsheviki  seized  the  general 
headquarters. 

Trotzky  sent  a  note  to  the  representatives  of  neutral  powers 
in  Petrograd,  informing  them  of  his  proposal  for  an  armistice,  and 
stating  "The  consummation  of  an  immediate  peace  is  demanded 
in  all  countries,  both  belligerent  and  neutral.  The  Russian  Govern- 
ment counts  on  the  firm  support  of  workmen  in  all  countries  hi 
this  struggle  for  peace."  Lenine,  however,  declared  that  Russia 
did  not  contemplate  a  separate  peace  with  Germany,  and  that  the 
Russian  Government,  before  agreeing  to  an  armistice,  would 
communicate  with  the  Allies  and  make  a  certain  proposal  to  the 
imperialistic  governments  of  France  and  England,  rejection  of 
which  would  place  them  in  open  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  their 
own  people. 

A  period  of  turmoil  followed.  In  the  meantime  elections  for 
the  Constituent  Assembly  were  held.  The  result  in  Petrograd 


THE  DESCENT  TO  BOLSHEVISM  451 

was  announced  as  272,000  votes  for  the  Bolsheviki,  211,000  for  the 
Constitutional  Democrats,  and  116,000  for  the  Social  Revolution- 
aries, showing  that  the  Bolsheviki  failed  to  attain  a  majority. 
Notwithstanding  the  prevailing  chaos,  the  Lenine-Trotzky  Govern- 
ment persisted  in  negotiations  for  an  armistice,  and  it  was  arranged 
that  the  first  conference  be  held  at  the  German  headquarters  at 
Brest-Litovsk. 

The  Russian  delegates  were  Kamenev,  whose  real  name  was 
Rosenfelt,  a  well  known  Bolshevist  leader;  Sokolnikov,  a  sailor; 
Bithenko,  a  soldier,  and  Mstislasky,  who  had  formerly  been  libra- 
rian to  the  General  Staff,  but  who  was  now  a  strong  Socialist.  Repre- 
sentatives were  present  of  Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  Turkey 
and  Bulgaria. 

After  many  interchanges  of  opinion  a  suspension  of  hostilities 
for  ten  days  was  authorized,  to  be  utilized  in  bringing  to  a  con- 
clusion negotiations  for  an  armistice.  On  December  7th  it  was 
announced  from  Petrograd  that  for  the  first  tune  since  the  war 
not  a  shot  was  fired  on  the  Russian  front.  Foreign  Secretary 
Trotzky,  on  the  6th  of  December,  notified  the  allied  embassies  hi 
Petrograd  of  these  negotiations  and  added  that  the  armistice  would 
be  signed  only  on  condition  that  the  troops  should  not  be  trans- 
ferred from  one  front  to  another.  He  announced  that  negotia- 
tions had  been  suspended  to  afford  the  Allied  Governments  oppor- 
tunity to  define  their  attitude  toward  the  peace  negotiation;  that 
is,  their  willingness  or  refusal  to  participate  in  negotiations  for  an 
armistice  and  peace.  In  case  of  refusal  they  must  declare  clearly 
and  definitely  before  all  mankind  the  aims  for  which  the  peoples  of 
Europe  had  been  called  to  shed  their  blood  during  the  fourth  year 
of  the  war. 

No  official  replies  were  made  to  this  note.  On  December  7th, 
Generals  Kaledines  and  Kornilov  raised  the  standard  of  revolt, 
but  reports  indicated  that  the  Bolsheviki  were  extending  their 
control  over  all  Russia.  A  meeting  of  the  Constituent  Assembly 
took  place  on  December  llth.  Less  than  50  of  the  600  delegates 
attended.  Meanwhile  the  negotiations  for  an  armistice  continued. 
On  December  16th  an  agreement  was  reached  and  an  armistice 
signed,  to  continue  from  December  17th  to  January  14th,  1918. 

Within  the  first  month  in  which  the  Bolsheviki  conducted  the 
government  numerous  edicts  of  a  revolutionary  character  were 


452 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


THE   DESCENT  TO  BOLSHEVISM  453 

issued.  Class  titles,  distinctions  and  privileges  were  abolished;  the 
corporate  property  of  nobles,  merchants  and  burgesses  was  to  be 
handed  over  to  the  state,  as  was  all  church  property,  lands,  money 
and  precious  stones;  and  religious  instruction  was  to  cease  in  the 
schools.  Strikes  were  in  progress  everywhere,  and  disorder  was 
rampant. 

Kornilov,  Terestchenko  and  other  associates  of  Kerensky, 
were  imprisoned  in  the  Fortress  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul;  the  Cadet 
Party  was  outlawed  by  decree  and  the  houses  of  its  leaders  raided. 
On  January  8,  1918,  it  was  announced  that  the  Bolsheviki  had 
determined  that  all  loans  and  Treasury  bonds  held  by  foreign 
subjects,  abroad  or  in  Russia,  were  repudiated. 

During  this  period  the  Bolsheviki's  Foreign  Secretary  aston- 
ished the  world  by  making  public  the  secret  treaties  between 
Russia  and  foreign  governments  in  the  early  years  of  the  war. 
These  treaties  dealt  with  the  proposed  annexation  by  Russia  of  the 
Dardanelles,  Constantinople  and  certain  areas  in  Asia  Minor; 
with  the  French  claim  on  Alsace-Lorraine  and  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine;  with  offers  to  Greece,  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  her  to 
assist  Serbia;  with  plans  to  alter  her  Western  boundaries,  with 
the  British  and  Russian  control  of  Persia;  and  with  Italy's  desire 
to  annex  certain  Austrian  territories.  These  treaties  had  been 
seized  upon  the  Bolsheviki  assumption  of  power,  and  were  now 
repudiated  by  the  new  government. 

During  the  period  of  the  armistice  Lenine  began  his  move 
for  a  separate  peace,  in  spite  of  the  formal  protests  of  the  Allied 
representatives  at  Petrograd. 

The  first  sitting  took  place  on  Saturday,  December  22,  1917. 
Among  the  delegates  were  Dr.  Richard  von  Kiihlmann,  Foreign 
Minister,  and  General  Hoffman,  of  Germany;  Count  Czernin, 
Foreign  Minister  of  Austria-Hungary;  Minister  Kopov,  of  Bulgaria; 
Nesimy  Bey,  former  Foreign  Minister  of  Turkey,  and  a  large 
delegation  from  Russia,  composed  of  Bolshevist  leaders.  Dr.  von 
Kiihlmann  was  chosen  as  the  presiding  officer  and  made  the 
opening  speech.  The  Russian  peace  demands  and  the  German 
counter-proposals  were  then  read,  and  considered. 

The  German  proposals  proved  unacceptable  to  Russia,  and  a 
second  session  of  the  peace  conference  was  held  at  Brest-Litovsk 
on  January  10,  1918.  Trotzky  himself  attended  this  meeting  as 


4.54 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


one  of  the  representatives  from  Russia,  and  there  was  also  a  repre- 
sentative from  Ukraine,  which  had  declared  its  independence,  and 
was  allowed  to  join  the  conference.  General  Hoffman  protested 
strongly  against  the  Russian  endeavor  to  make  appeals  of  a  revo- 
lutionary character  to  the  German  troops. 

The  armistice  having  expired,  it  was  agreed  it  should  be  con- 
tinued to  February  12th.  After  a  long  and  acrimonious  debate 
the  Conference  broke  up  in  a  clash  over  the  evacuation  of  the 
Russian  provinces.  On  January  24th  it  was  announced  that  the 


RUSSIA  AS  PARTITIONED  BY  THE  BREST-LITOVSK  TREATY 


Russian  delegates  to  the  peace  conference  had  unanimously  decided 
to  reject  the  German  terms.  They  stated  that  when  they  asked 
Germany's  final  terms  General  Hoffman  of  the  German  delegation 
had  replied  by  opening  a  map  and  pointing  out  a  line  from  the 
shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Finland  to  the  east  of  the  Moon  Sound  Islands, 
to  Valk,  to  the  west  of  Minsk,  to  Brest-Litovsk,  thus  eliminating 
Courland  and  all  the  Baltic  provinces. 

Asked  the  terms  of  the  Central  Powers  in  regard  to  the  terri- 
tory south  of  Brest-Litovsk  General  Hoffman  replied  that  was  a 
question  which  they  would  discuss  only  with  Ukraine.  M.  Kam- 


THE  DESCENT  TO  BOLSHEVISM  455 

inev  asked:   "Supposing  we  do  not  agree  to  such  condition,  what 
are  you  going  to  do?" 

General  Hoffman's  answer  was,  "Within  a  week  we  would 
occupy  Reval." 

On  January  27th,  Trotzky  made  his  report  to  the  Soviets  at 
Petrograd.  After  a  thorough  explanation  of  the  peace  debates, 
he  declared  that  the  Government  of  the  Soviets  could  not  sign 


* 

GULF  \OF 

':>        BOTHltft 


GENERAL  MAP  OF  THE  BALTIC  SEA 

With  the  collapse  of  Russia  German  forces  advanced  from  Riga,  along  the  Gulf  of 
Finland  occupying  Reval  and  threatening  Petrograd. 

such  a  peace.    It  was  then  decided  to  demobilize  the  Russian  army 
and  withdraw  from  the  war. 

Final  sessions  of  the  peace  congress  were  resumed  at  Brest- 
Litovsk  January  29th;  a  peace  treaty  was  made  between  the 
Central  Powers  and  the  Ukraine,  and  the  Bolsheviki  yielded  to  the 
German  demands  without  signing  a  treaty.  Meanwhile  the 
Russian  Constituent  Assembly  which  met  at  Petrograd  on  Janu- 
ary 19th,  was  dissolved  on  January  20th,  by  the  Bolsheviki  Council. 


456  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Disorders  continued  throughout  all  Russia  and  counter-revo- 
lutionary movements  were  started  at  many  places.  On  Febru- 
ary 18th,  the  day  when  the  armistice  agreement  between  Russia 
and  the  Central  Powers  expired,  German  forces  began  a  new 
invasion  of  Russia.  The  next  day  the  Bolshevist  Government 
issued  a  statement,  announcing  that  Russia  would  be  compelled 
to  sign  a  peace.  The  German  advance  went  on  rapidly,  and  many 
important  Russian  cities  were  occupied.  On  February  24th,  the 
Bolshevist  Government  announced  that  peace  terms  had  been 
accepted,  and  a  treaty  was  signed  at  Brest-Litovsk  on  March  3d. 

On  March  14th  the  All-Russia  Council  of  Soviets  voted  to 
ratify  the  treaty,  after  an  all-night  sitting.  Lenine  pronounced 
himself  in  favor  of  accepting  the  German  terms;  Trotzky  stood  for 
war,  but  did  not  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Council.  Lenine 
defended  the  step  by  pointing  out  that  the  country  was  completely 
unable  to  offer  resistance,  and  that  peace  was  indispensable  for 
the  completion  of  the  social  war  in  Russia. 

The  new  treaty  dispossessed  Russia  of  territories  amounting 
to  nearly  one-quarter  of  the  area  of  European  Russia,  and  inhabited 
by  one-third  of  Russia's  total  population.  Trotzky  resigned  on 
account  of  his  opposition  to  the  treaty  and  was  succeeded  by  M. 
Tchitcherin.  He  became  Chairman  of  the  Petrograd  Labor 
Commune.  The  treaty  between  Russia  and  the  Central  Powers 
was  formally  denounced  by  the  Premiers  and  Foreign  Ministers 
of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy,  and  was  not  recognized  by  the 
Allied  nations. 

A  final  revocation  of  its  provisions  by  both  sides  did  not  put 
an  end  to  the  military  operations  of  the  Central  Powers  in  Russia, 
nor  did  the  Russians  cease  to  make  feeble  and  sporadic  attempts 
at  resistance.  Germany  was  forced  to  keep  large  bodies  of  troops 
along  the  Russian  front,  but  formally  Russia's  part  in  the  war  had 
come  to  an  end. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 
GERMANY'S  OBJECT  LESSON  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

DURING  the  first  two  years  of  the  war  many  Americans, 
especially  those  in  the  West,  observed  the  great  events 
which  were  happening  with  great  interest,  no  doubt,  but 
with  a  feeling  of  detachment.      The  war  was  a  long 
way  off.     The  Atlantic  Ocean  separated  Europe  from  America, 
and  it  seemed  almost  absurd  to  think  that  the  Great  War  could 
ever  affect  us. 

In  the  year  1916,  however,  two  events  happened  which  seemed 
to  bring  the  war  to  our  door.  The  first  was  the  arrival  at  Baltimore, 
on  July  9th,  of  the  Deutschland,  a  German  submarine  of  great  size, 
built  entirely  for  commercial  purposes,  and  the  second  was  the 
appearance,  on  the  7th  of  October,  of  a  German  war  submarine  in 
the  harbor  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  and  its  exploit  on  the  follow- 
ing day  when  it  sunk  a  number  of  British  and  neutral  vessels  just 
outside  the  three-mile  line  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 

The  performances  of  these  two  vessels  were  equally  suggestive, 
but  the  popular  feeling  with  regard  to  what  they  had  done  was  very 
divergent.  The  voyage  of  the  Deutschland  roused  the  widest 
admiration  but  the  action  of  the  U-53  stirred  up  the  deepest  indigna- 
tion. Yet  the  voyages  of  each  showed  with  equal  clearness  that, 
however  much  America  might  consider  herself  separated  from  the 
Great  War,  the  new  scientific  invention,  the  submarine,  had  anni- 
hilated space,  and  America,  too,  was  now  but  a  neighbor  of  the 
nations  at  war. 

The  voyage  of  the  Deutschland  was  a  romance  in  itself.  It 
was  commanded  by  Captain  Paul  Koenig,  a  German  officer  of  the 
old  school.  He  had  been  captain  of  the  Schleswig  of  the  North 
German  Lloyd,  and  of  other  big  liners.  When  the  power  of  the 
British  fleet  drove  German  commerce  from  the  seas,  he  had  found 
himself  without  a  job,  and,  as  he  phrased  it,  "was  drifting  about  the 
country  like  a  derelict."  One  day,  in  September,  1915,  he  was 
asked  to  meet  Herr  Alfred  Lohmann,  an  agent  of  the  North  German 

459 


460  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Lloyd  Line,  and  surprised  by  an  offer  to  navigate  a  submarine 
cargo  ship  from  Germany  to  America.  Captain  Koenig,  who 
seems  to  have  been  in  every  way  an  admirable  personage,  at  once 
consented.  He  has  told  us  the  story  of  his  trip  in  his  interesting 
book  called  "The  Voyage  of  the  Deutschland." 

The  Deutschland  itself  was  three  hundred  feet  long,  thirty 
feet  wide,  and  carried  one  thousand  tons  of  cargo  and  a  crew  of 
twenty-nine  men.  It  cost  a  hah"  a  million  dollars,  but  paid  for 
itself  in  the  first  trip.  According  to  Captain  Koenig  the  voyage 
on  the  whole  seems  to  have  been  most  enjoyable.  He  understood 
his  boat  well  and  had  watched  its  construction.  Before  setting 
out  on  his  voyage  he  carefully  trained  his  crew,  and  experimented 
with  the  Deutschland  until  he  was  thoroughly  familiar  with  all  its 
peculiarities.  The  cargo  was  composed  of  dye  stuffs,  and  the  ship 
was  well  supplied  with  provisions  and  comforts.  In  his  description 
of  the  trip  he  lays  most  emphasis  upon  the  discomfort  resulting 
from  heavy  weather  and  from  storms.  He  was  able  to  avoid  all 
danger  from  hostile  ships  by  the  very  simple  process  of  diving.  No 
English  ship  approached  him  closely  as  he  was  always  able  to  see 
them  from  a  distance,  usually  observing  their  course  by  means  of 
their  smoke. 

One  of  his  liveliest  adventures,  however,  occurred  when 
attempting  to  submerge  suddenly  during  a  heavy  sea  on  the 
appearance  of  a  destroyer.  The  destroyer  apparently  never 
observed  the  Deutschland,  but  in  the  endeavor  to  dive  quickly 
the  submarine  practically  stood  on  its  head,  and  dived  down  into 
the  mud,  where  it  found  itself  held  fast.  Captain  Koenig  however 
was  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  by  balancing  and  trimming  the 
tanks  he  finally  restored  the  center  of  gravity  and  released  his  boat. 

A  considerable  portion  of  his  trip  was  passed  upon  the  surface 
as  he  only  submerged  when  there  was  suspicion  of  danger.  Accord- 
nig  to  his  story  his  men  kept  always  in  the  highest  spirits.  They 
had  plenty  of  music,  and  doubtless  appreciated  the  extraordinary 
nature  of  then*  voyage. 

An  amusing  incident  during  the  trip  was  the  attempt  to  camou- 
flage his  ship  by  a  frame  work,  made  of  canvas  and  so  constructed 
as  to  give  the  outline  of  a  steamer.  One  day  a  hostile  steamer 
appeared  in  the  distance  and  Captain  Koenig  proceeded  to  test  his 
disguise.  After  great  difficulties,  especially  hi  connection  with  the 


GERMANY'S  OBJECT  LESSON  461 

production  of  smoke,  he  finally  had  the  whole  construction  fairly  at 
work.  The  steamer,  which  had  been  peacefully  going  its  way,  on 
seeing  the  new  ship  suddenly  changed  her  course  and  steered  directly 
toward  the  Deutschland.  It  evidently  took  the  Deutschland  for 
some  kind  of  a  wreck  and  was  hurrying  to  give  it  assistance.  Cap- 
tain Koenig  at  once  pulled  off  his  super-structure  and  revealed 
himself  as  a  submarine,  and  the  strange  vessel  veered  about  and 
hurried  off  as  fast  as  it  could. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  Deutschland  hi  America  Captain  Koenig 
and  his  crew  found  their  difficulties  over.  All  arrangements  had 
been  made  by  representatives  of  the  North  German  Lloyd  for  their 
safety  and  comfort.  As  they  ran  up  Chesapeake  Bay  they  were 
greeted  by  the  whistles  of  the  neutral  steamers  that  they  passed. 
The  moving-picture  companies  immortalized  the  crew  and  they 
were  treated  with  the  utmost  hospitality. 

The  Allied  governments  protested  that  the  Deutschland  was 
really  a  war  vessel  and  on  the  12th  of  July  a  commission  of  three 
American  naval  officers  was  sent  down  from  Washington  to  make  an 
investigation.  The  investigation  showed  the  Deutschland  was 
absolutely  unarmed  and  the  American  Government  decided  not  to 
interfere. 

The  position  of  the  Allies  was  that  a  submarine,  even  though 
without  guns  or  torpedoes,  was  practically  a  vessel  of  war  from  its 
very  nature,  and  for  it  to  pretend  to  be  a  merchant  vessel  was  as  if 
some  great  German  man-of-war  should  dismount  its  guns  and  pass 
them  over  to  some  tender  and  then  undertake  to  visit  an  American 
port.  They  argued  that  if  the  submarine  would  come  out  from 
harbor  it  might  be  easily  fitted  with  detachable  torpedo  tubes,  and 
become  as  dangerous  as  any  U-boat.  Even  without  arms  it  might 
easily  sink  an  unarmed  merchant  vessel  by  ramming.  But  the 
United  States  was  not  convinced,  and  American  citizens  rather 
admired  the  genial  captain. 

His  return  was  almost  as  uneventful  as  his  voyage  out.  At 
the  very  beginning  he  had  trouble  in  not  being  able  to  rise  after  an 
experimental  dive.  This  misadventure  was  caused  by  a  plug  of 
mud  which  had  stopped  up  the  opening  of  the  manometer.  But  the 
difficulty  was  overcome,  and  he  was  able  to  pass  under  water  between 
the  British  ships  which  were  on  the  lookout.  His  return  home  was 
a  triumph.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  gathered  along  the 


462  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

banks  of  the  Weser,  filled  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Poems 
were  written  in  his  honor  and  his  appearance  was  everywhere  greeted 
with  enthusiastic  applause.  The  Germans  felt  sure  that  through 
the  Deutschland  and  similar  boats  they  had  broken  the  British 
blockade. 

Captain  Koenig  made  a  second  voyage,  landing  at  New  London, 
Connecticut,  on  November  1st,  where  he  took  on  a  cargo  of  rubber, 
nickel  and  other  valuable  commodities.  On  November  16th,  in 
attempting  to  get  away  to  sea,  he  met  with  a  collision  with  the  tug 
T.  A.  Scott,  Jr.,  and  had  to  return  to  New  London  for  repairs.  He 
concluded  his  voyage,  however,  without  difficulty.  In  spite  of  his 
success  the  Germans  did  not  make  any  very  great  attempt  to. 
develop  a  fleet  of  submarine  cargo  boats. 

The  other  German  act  which  brought  home  to  Americans  the 
possibilities  of  the  submarine,  the  visit  of  the  U-53,  was  a  very 
different  sort  of  matter.  U-53  was  a  German  submarine  of  the 
largest  type.  On  October  7,  1916,  it  made  a  sudden  appearance  at 
Newport,  and  its  captain,  Lieutenant-Captain  Hans  Rose,  was 
entertained  as  if  he  were  a  welcome  guest.  He  sent  a  letter  to  the 
German  Ambassador  at  Washington  and  received  visitors  in  his 
beautiful  boat.  The  U-53  was  a  war  submarine,  two  hundred  and 
thirteen  feet  long,  with  two  deck  guns  and  four  torpedo  tubes.  It 
had  been  engaged  in  the  war  against  Allied  commerce  in  the  Medi- 
terranean. Captain  Rose  paid  formal  visits  to  Rear- Admiral 
Austin  Knight,  Commander  of  the  United  States  Second  Naval 
District,  stationed  at  Newport,  and  Rear- Admiral  Albert  Gleaves, 
Commander  of  the  American  destroyer  flotilla  at  that  place,  and 
then  set  out  secretly  to  his  destination 

On  the  next  day  the  news  came  in  that  the  U-53  had  sunk 
five  merchant  vessels.  These  were  the  Strathdene,  which  was  tor- 
pedoed; the  West  Point,  a  British  freighter,  also  torpedoed;  the 
Stephano,  a  passenger  liner  between  New  York  and  Halifax,  which 
the  submarine  attempted  to  sink  by  opening  its  sea  valves  but  was 
finally  torpedoed;  the  Blommersdijk,  a  Dutch  freighter,  and  the 
Christian  Knudsen,  a  Norwegian  boat.  The  American  steamer 
Kansan  was  also  stopped,  but  allowed  to  proceed.  When  the 
submarine  began  its  work  wireless  signals  soon  told  what  was 
happening,  and  Admiral  Knight,  with  the  Newport  destroyer 
flotilla,  hurried  to  the  rescue.  These  destroyers  picked  up  two 


GERMANY'S   OBJECT  LESSON  463 

hundred  and  sixteen  men  and  acted  with  such  promptness  that  not 
a  single  life  was  lost. 

The  action  of  the  TJ-53  produced  intense  excitement  in  America. 
The  newspapers  were  filled  with  editorial  denunciation,  and  the 
people  were  roused  to  indignation.  The  American  Government 
apparently  took  the  ground  that  the  Germans  were  acting  according 
to  law  and  according  to  their  promise  to  America.  They  had 
given  warning  in  each  case  and  allowed  the  crews  of  the  vessels 
which  they  sunk  to  take  to  their  boats.  This  was  believed  to  be  a 
fulfilment  of  their  pledge  "not  to  sink  merchant  vessels  without 
warning  and  without  saving  human  lives,  unless  the  ship  attempts 
to  escape  or  offers  resistance." 

The  general  feeling,  however,  of  American  public  opinion  was 
that  it  was  a  brutal  act.  In  the  case  of  the  Stephano  there  were 
ninety-four  passengers.  These,  together  with  the  crew,  were 
placed  adrift  in  boats  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  in  a  rough 
sea  sixty  miles  away  from  the  nearest  land.  If  the  American 
destroyer  fleet  had  not  rushed  to  the  rescue  it  is  extremely  likely 
that  a  great  many  of  these  boats  would  never  have  reached  land. 
The  German  Government  did  not  save  these  human  lives.  It  was 
the  American  navy  which  did  that.  But,  technicalities  aside,  the 
pride  of  the  American  people  was  wounded.  They  could  not 
tolerate  a  situation  in  which  American  men-of-war  should  stand 
idly  by  and  watch  a  submarine  in  a  leisurely  manner  sink  ships 
engaged  in  American  trade  whose  passengers  and  crews  contained 
many  American  citizens. 

It  was  another  one  of  those  foolish  things  that  Germans  were 
'constantly  doing,  which  gave  them  no  appreciable  military  advan- 
tage, but  stirred  up  against  them  the  sentiment  of  the  world.  The 
Germans  perhaps  were  anxious  to  show  the  power  of  the  submarines, 
and  to  give  America  an  object  lesson  hi  that  power.  They  wished 
to  make  plain  that  they  could  destroy  overseas  trade,  and  that  if  the 
United  States  should  endeavor  to  send  troops  across  the  water  they 
would  be  able  to  sink  those  troops. 

The  Germans  probably  never  seriously  contemplated  a  blockade 
of  the  American  coast.  The  U-53  returned  to  its  base  and  the 
danger  was  ended.  American  commerce  went  peacefully  on,  and 
the  net  result  of  the  German  audacity  was  in  the  increase  of  bitter- 
ness in  the  popular  feeling  toward  the  German  methods. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 
AMERICA  TRANSFORMED  BY  WAR 

WHEN  Germany  threw  down  the  gauge  of  battle  to  the 
civilized  world,  the  German  High  Command  calcu- 
lated that  the  long,  rigorous  and  thorough  military 
training  to  which  every  male  German  had  submitted, 
would  make  a  military  force  invincible  in  the  field.     The  High 
Command  believed  that  a  nation  so  trained  would  carve  out  vic- 
tory after  victory  and  would  end  the  World  War  before  any  nation 
could  train  its  men  sufficiently  to  check  the  Teutonic  rush. 

To  that  theory  was  opposed  the  democratic  conception  that 
the  free  nations  of  earth  could  train  then*  young  men  intensively 
for  six  months  and  send  these  vigorous  free  men  into  the  field  to 
win  the  final  decision  over  the  hosts  of  autocracy. 

These  antagonistic  theories  were  tried  out  to  a  finish  in  the 
World  War  and  the  theory  of  democracy,  developed  in  the  training 
camps  of  America,  Canada,  Australia,  Britain,  France  and  Italy, 
triumphed.  Especially  hi  the  training  camps  of  America  was  the 
German  theory  disproved.  There  within  six  months  the  best 
fighting  troops  on  earth  were  developed  and  trained  in  the  most 
modern  of  war-tune  practices.  Everything  that  Germany  could 
devise  found  its  answer  hi  American  ingenuity,  American  endurance 
and  American  skill. 

The  entrance  of  America  into  the  tremendous  conflict  on 
April  6,  1917  was  followed  immediately  by  the  mobilization  of  the 
entire  nation.  Business  and  industry  of  every  character  were 
represented  in  the  Council  of  National  Defense  which  acted  as  a 
great  central  functioning  organization  for  all  industries  and  agencies 
connected  with  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  Executives  of  rare 
talent  commanding  high  salaries  tendered  their  services  freely  to 
the  government.  These  were  the  "dollar  a  year  men"  whose 
productive  genius  was  to  bear  fruit  hi  the  clothing,  arming,  pro- 
visioning, munitioning  and  transportation  of  four  million  men  and 
the  conquest  of  Germany  by  a  veritable  avalanche  of  war  material. 

464 


AMERICA  TRANSFORMED  BY  WAR         465 

Out  of  the  ranks  of  business  and  science  came  Hurley,  Schwab, 
Piez,  Coonley  to  drive  forward  a  record-breaking  shipbuilding 
program,  Stettinius  to  speed  up  the  manufacture  of  munitions, 
John  W.  Ryan  to  coordinate  and  accelerate  the  manufacture  of 
airplanes,  Vance  C.  McCormick  and  Dr.  Alonzo  E.  Taylor  to  solve 
the  problems  of  the  War  Trade  Board,  Hoover  to  multiply  food 
production,  to  conserve  food  supplies  and  to  place  the  army  and 
citizenry  of  America  upon  food  rations  while  maintaining  the  morale 
of  the  Allies  through  scientific  food  distribution  and  a  host  of  ether 
patriotic  civilians  who  put  the  resources  of  the  nation  behind  the 
military  and  naval  forces  opposed  to  Germany.  Every  available 
loom  was  put  at  work  to  make  cloth  for  the  army  and  the  navy, 
the  leather  market  was  drained  of  its  supplies  to  shoe  our  forces 
with  wear  adapted  to  the  drastic  requirements  of  modern  warfare. 

German  capital  invested  in  American  plants  was  placed  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  A.  Mitchell  Palmer  as  Alien  Property  Cus- 
todian. German  ships  were  seized  and  transformed  into  American 
transports.  Physicians  over  military  age  set  a  glorious  example  of 
patriotic  devotion  by  their  enlistment  in  thousands.  Lawyers 
and  citizens  generally  in  the  same  category  as  to  age  entered  the 
office  of  the  Judge  Advocate  General  or  the  ranks  of  the  Four 
Minute  Men  or  the  American  Protective  League  which  rendered 
great  service  to  the  country  hi  exposing  German  propaganda  and 
in  placing  would-be  slackers  in  military  service.  Bankers  led  the 
mighty  Liberty  Loan  and  War  Savings  Stamp  drives  and  unsel- 
fishly placed  the  resources  of  their  institutions  at  the  service  of  the 
government. 

Women  and  children  rallied  to  the  flag  with  an  intensity  of  pur- 
pose, sacrifice  and  effort  that  demonstrated  how  completely  was 
the  heart  of  America  hi  the  war.  Work  in  shops,  fields,  hospitals, 
Red  Cross  work  rooms  and  elsewhere  was  cheerfully  and  enthusi- 
astically performed  and  the  sacrifices  of  food  rationing,  higher 
prices,  lightless  nights,  gasolineless  Sundays,  diminished  steam 
railway  and  trolley  service  were  accepted  with  a  multitude  of  minor 
inconvenience  without  a  murmur.  Congress  had  a  free  hand  hi 
making  appropriations.  The  country  approved  without  a  minute's 
hesitation  bills  for  taxation  that  in  other  days  would  have  brought 
ruin  to  the  political  party  proposing  them. '  Billions  were  voted  to 
departments  where  hundreds  of  thousands  had  been  the  rule. 


466 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


AMERICA  TRANSFORMED  BY  WAR          467 

The  true  temper  of  the  American  people  was  carefully  hidden 
from  the  German  people  by  the  German  newspapers  acting  under 
instructions  from  the  Imperial  Government.  Instead  of  the  truth, 
false  reports  were  printed  in  the  newspapers  of  Berlin  and  else- 
where that  the  passage  of  the  American  conscription  law  had  been 
followed  by  rioting  and  rebellion  hi  many  places  and  that  fully 
fifty  per  cent  of  the  American  people  was  opposed  to  the  declara- 
tion of  war.  The  fact  that  the  selective  service  act  passed  hi 
May,  1917,  was  accepted  by  everybody  in  this  country  as  a  wholly 
equitable  and  satisfactory  law  did  not  permeate  into  Germany  until 
the  first  American  Expeditionary  Force  had  actually  landed  in 
France. 

America's  fighting  power  was  demonstrated  conclusively  to  the 
Germanic  intellect  at  Seicheprey,  Bouresches  Wood,  Belleau  Wood, 
Chateau-Thierry,  and  in  the  Forest  of  the  Argonne.  Especially  was 
it  demonstrated  when  it  came  to  fighting  hi  small  units,  or  in  in- 
dividual fighting.  The  highly  disciplined  and  highly  trained  Ger- 
man soldiers  were  absolutely  unfitted  to  cope  with  Americans, 
Canadians  and  Australians  when  it  came  to  matching  individual 
against  individual,  or  small  group  against  small  group. 

This  was  shown  in  the  wild  reaches  of  the  Forest  of  the 
Argonne.  There  the  machine-gun  nests  of  the  Germans  were  iso- 
lated and  demolished  speedily.  Small  parties  of  Germans  were 
stalked  and  run  down  by  the  relentless  Americans.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Germans  could  make  no  headway  against  the  American 
troops  operating  in  the  Forest.  The  famous  "Lost  Battalion"  of 
the  308th  United  States  Infantry  penetrated  so  far  in  advance  of 
its  supports  that  it  was  cut  off  for  four  days  without  food,  water  or 
supplies  of  munitions  in  the  Argonne.  The  enemy  had  cut  its 
line  of  communication  and  was  enforced  both  in  front  and  in  the 
rear.  Yet  the  lost  battalion,  comprising  two  companies  armed 
with  rifles  and  the  French  automatic  rifle  known  as  the  Chauchat 
gun,  called  by  the  doughboys  "Sho  Sho,"  held  out  against  the 
best  the  overpowering  forces  of  the  Germans  could  send  against 
them,  and  were  ultimately  rescued  from  their  dangerous  position. 

The  training  of  the  Americans  was  also  in  modern  efficiency 
that  made  America  prominent  in  the  world  of  industry.  The 
reduction  of  the  German  salient  at  St.  Mihiel  was  an  object  lesson 
to  the  Germans  in  American  methods.  General  Pershing  com- 


468  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

manding  that  operation  in  person,  assembled  the  newspaper  cor- 
respondents the  day  before  the  drive.  Maps  were  shown,  giving 
the  extent  and  locale  of  the  attack.  The  correspondents  were 
invited  to  follow  the  American  troops  and  a  tune  schedule  for  the 
advance  was  given  to  the  various  corps  commanders. 

In  that  operation,  152  square  miles  of  territory  and  72 
villages  were  captured  outright.  For  the  reduction  of  the  German 
defenses  and  for  the  creeping  barrage  preceding  the  American 
advance,  more  than  1,500,000  shells  were  fired  by  the  artillery. 
Approximately  100,000  detail  maps  and  40,000  photographs  pre- 
pared largely  from  aerial  observations,  were  issued  for  the  guidance 
of  the  artillery  and  the  infantry.  These  maps  and  photographs 
detailed  all  the  natural  and  artificial  defenses  of  the  entire  salient. 
More  than  5,000  miles  of  telephone  wire  was  laid  by  American 
engineers  immediately  preceding  the  attack,  and  as  the  Americans 
advanced  on  the  morning  of  the  battle,  September  12,  1918,  6,000 
telephone  instruments  were  connected  with  this  wire.  Ten  thous- 
and men  were  engaged  in  operating  the  hastily  constructed  tele- 
phone system;  3,000  carrier  pigeons  supplemented  this  work. 

During  the  battle  American  airplanes  swept  the  skies  clear 
of  enemy  air-craft  and  signaled  instructions  to  the  artillery, 
besides  attacking  the  moving  infantry,  artillery  and  supply  trains 
of  the  enemy.  So  sure  were  the  Americans  of  their  success  that 
moving-picture  operators  took  more  than  10,000  feet  of  moving 
picture  film  showing  the  rout  of  the  Germans.  Four  thousand 
eight  hundred  trucks  carried  food,  men  and  munitions  into  the 
lines.  Miles  of  American  railroads,  both  of  standard  and  narrow 
gauge,  carrying  American-made  equipment,  assisted  in  the  trans- 
portation of  men  and  supplies.  Hospital  facilities  including  35 
hospital  trains,  16,000  beds  in  the  advanced  sector,  and  55,000 
other  beds  back  of  the  fighting  line,  were  prepared.  Less  than 
ten  per  cent  of  this  hospital  equipment  was  used. 

As  the  direct  consequence  of  this  preparation,  which  far  out- 
stripped anything  that  any  other  nation  had  attempted  in  a  similar 
offensive,  the  Americans  with  a  remarkably  small  casualty  list 
took  15,188  prisoners,  111  guns,  many  of  them  of  large  caliber, 
immense  quantities  of  munitions  and  other  supplies,  and  inflicted 
heavy  death  losses  upon  the  fleeing  Germans. 

Two  selective  service  laws  operated  as  manhood  conscription. 


AMERICA  TRANSFORMED  BY  WAR          469 

The  first  of  these  took  men  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and 
thirty-one  years  inclusive.  June  5,  1917,  was  fixed  as  registration 
day.  The  total  number  enrolled  was  9,586,508.  The  first  selec- 
tive army  drawn  from  this  number  was  625,000  men. 

The  second  selective  service  legislation  embraced  all  citizens 
between  the  ages  of  18  and  .45  inclusive,  not  included  in  the  first 
draft.  Over  13,000,000  men  enrolled  on  September  12,  1918. 

The  grand  total  of  registrants  in  both  drafts  was  23,456,021. 
Youths  who  had  not  completed  their  19th  year  were  set  apart  in  a 
group  to  be  called  last  and  men  between  thirty-six  and  forty-five 
were  also  put  in  a  deferred  class.  The  government's  plan  was  to 
have  "approximately  5,000,000  men  under  arms  before  the  sum- 
mer of  1919.  The  German  armistice  on  November  llth  found 
4,000,000  men  actually  under  arms  and  an  assignment  of  250,000 
made  to  the  training  camps. 

A  most  important  factor  in  the  training  plans  of  the  United 
States  was  that  incorporated  in  the  organization  of  the  Students' 
Army  Training  Corps,  by  which  359  American  colleges  and  uni- 
versities were  taken  over  by  the  government  and  150,000  young 
men  entered  these  institutions  for  the  purpose  of  becoming  trained 
soldiers.  The  following  are  the  conditions  under  which  the 
S.  A.  T.  C.  was  organized: 

The  War  Department  undertook  to  furnish  officers,  uniforms, 
rifles,  and  equipment,  and  to  assign  the  students  to  military  duty, 
after  a  few  months,  either  at  an  officers'  training  camp  or  in  some 
technical  school,  or  in  a  regular  army  cantonment  with  troops 
as  a  private,  according  to  the  degree  of  aptitude  shown  on  the 
college  campus. 

At  the  same  tune  a  circular  letter  to  the  presidents  of  colleges 
arranged  for  a  contract  under  which  the  government  became 
responsible  for  the  expense  of  the  housing,  subsistence,  and  instruc- 
tion of  the  students.  The  preliminary  arrangement  contained  this 
provision,  among  others: 

The  per  diem  rate  of  $1  for  subsistence  and  housing  is  to  govern 
temporarily,  pending  examination  of  the  conditions  in  the  individual 
institution  and  a  careful  working  out  of  the  costs  involved.  The  amount 
so  fixed  is  calculated  from  the  experience  of  this  committee  during  the 
last  five  months  in  contracting  with  over  100  collegiate  institutions  for 
the  housing  and  subsistence  of  over  100,000  soldiers  in  the  National 


Army  Training  Detachment.  This  experience  indicates  that  the  average 
cost  of  housing  is  15  to  20  cents  per  day;  subsistence  (army  ration  or 
equivalent),  70  to  80  cents  per  day.  The  tuition  charge  is  based  on  the 
regular  per  diem  tuition  charge  of  the  institution  in  the  year  1917-18. 

A  permanent  contract  was  arranged  later  under  these  govern- 
ing principles: 

The  basis  of  payment  will  be  reimbursement  for  actual  and  necessary 
costs  to  the  institutions  for  the  services  rendered  to  the  government  in 
the  maintenance  and  instruction  of  the  soldiers  with  the  stated  limitation 
as  to  cost  of  instruction.  Contract  price  will  be  arrived  at  by  agreement 
after  careful  study  of  the  conditions  in  each  case,  in  conference  with 
authorities  of  the  institution. 

The  War  Department  will  have  authority  to  specify  and  control  the 
courses  of  instruction  to  be  given  by  the  institution. 

The  entity  and  power  for  usefulness  of  the  institutions  will  be  safe- 
guarded so  that  when  the  contract  ends  the  institutions  shall  be  in  condi- 
tion to  resume  their  functions  of  general  education. 

The  teaching  force  will  be  preserved  so  far  as  practicable,  and  this 
matter  so  treated  that  its  members  shall  feel  that  in  changing  to  the  special 
intensive  work  desired  by  the  government  they  are  rendering  a  vital  and 
greatly  needed  service. 

The  government  will  ask  from  the  institutions  a  specific  service; 
that  is,  the  housing,  subsistence,  and  instruction  along  specified  lines  of  a 
certain  number  of  student  soldiers.  There  will  be  no  interference  with  the 
freedom  of  the  institution  in  conducting  other  courses  in  the  usual  way. 

The  contract  will  be  for  a  fixed  term,  probably  nine  months,  subject 
to  renewal  for  a  further  period  on  reasonable  notice,  on  terms  to  be  agreed 
upon  and  subject  to  cancellation  on  similar  terms. 

The  story  of  the  life  of  the  American  army  behind  the  lines  in 
France  would  fill  a  volume.  The  hospitality  of  the  French  people 
had  something  pathetic  in  it.  They  were  expecting  miracles  of 
their  new  Allies.  They  were  war  sick.  Nearly  all  of  them  had 
lost  some  father,  or  brother,  or  husband,  and  here  came  these  big, 
hearty,  joyous  soldiers,  full  of  ardor  and  confident  of  victory. 
It  put  a  new  spirit  into  all  France.  Their  reception  when  they 
first  landed  was  a  scene  of  such  fervor  and  enthusiasm  as  had 
never  been  known  before  and  probably  will  not  be  known  again. 
Soon  the  American  soldier,  in  his  khaki,  with  his  wide-brimmed 
soft  hat,  became  a  common  sight. 

The  villagers  put  up  bunting,  calico  signs,  flags  and  had 
stocks  of  American  canned  goods  to  show  in  their  shop  windows. 
The  children,  when  bold,  played  with  the  American  soldiers,  and 


AMERICA  TRANSFORMED  BY  WAR          471 

the  children  that  were  more  shy  ventured  to  go  up  and  touch  an 
American  soldier's  leg.  Very  old  peasant  ladies  put  on  their 
Sunday  black,  and  went  out  walking,  and  in  some  mysterious  way 
talking  with  American  soldiers.  The'  village  mayors  turned  out 
and  made  speeches,  utterly  incomprehensible  to  the  American 
soldiers. 

The  engineering,  building  and  machinery  works  the  Americans 
put  up  were  astonishing.  Gangs  of  workers  went  over  hi  thousands; 
many  of  these  were  college  men.  They  dug  and  toiled  as  efficiently 
as  any  laborer.  One  American  major  told  with  glee  how  a  party 
of  these  young  workers  arrived  straight  from  America  at  3.30  P.  M. 
and  started  digging  at  5  A.  M.  next  morning,  "and  they  liked  it, 
it  tickled  them  to  death."  Many  of  these  draftees,  hi  fact,  were 
sick  and  tired  of  inaction  in  ports  before  then*  departure  from 
America,  and  they  welcomed  work  in  France  as  if  it  were  some 
great  game. 

Perhaps  the  biggest  work  of  all  the  Americans  performed 
was  a  certain  aviation  camp  and  school.  In  a  few  months  it  was 
completed,  and  it  was  the  biggest  of  its  kind  hi  the  world.  The 
number  of  airplanes  used  merely  for  training  was  hi  itself  remarkable. 
The  flying  men — or  boys — who  had,  of  course,  already  been  broken- 
in  in  America,  did  an  additional  course  in  France,  and  when  they  left 
the  aviation  camp  they  were  absolutely  ready  for  air-fighting  at 
the  front.  This  was  the  finishing  school.  The  aviators  went 
through  eight  distinct  courses  in  the  school.  They  were  perfected 
hi  flying,  in  observation,  hi  bombing,  hi  machine-gun  firing.  On 
even  a  cloudy  and  windy  day  the  air  overhead  buzzed  with  these 
young  American  fliers,  all  getting  into  the  pink  of  condition  to  do 
then-  stunts  at  the  front.  They  lived  in  the  camp,  and  it  required 
moving  heaven  and  earth  for  one  of  them  to  get  leave  to  go  even 
to  the  nearest  little  quiet  old  town. 

An  impression  of  complete  businesslike  determination  was 
what  one  got  when  visiting  the  Americans  in  France.  A  discipline 
even  stricter  than  that  which  applied  in  British  and  French  troops 
was  in  force.  In  towns,  officers,  for  instance,  were  not  allowed  out 
after  9  P.  M.  Some  towns  where  subalterns  discovered  the  wine 
of  the  country  were  instantly  put  "out  of  bounds."  ^  No  officer, 
on  any  pretext  whatsoever  was  allowed  to  go  to  Paris  except  on 
official  business. 


472 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


The  postal  censors  who  read  the  letters  of  the  American 
Expeditionary  Force  were  required  to  know  forty-seven  languages! 
Of  these  languages,  the  two  least  used  were  Chinese  and  German. 

The  announcement  of  the  organization  of  the  first  American 
Field  Army  was  contained  in  the  following  dispatch  from  France, 
August  11,  1918: 

"The  first  American  field  army  has  been  organized.  It  is 
under  the  direct  command  of  General  John  J.  Pershing,  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  American  forces.  The  corps  commanders  thus 


• 

...< 

* 

• 

J 

1 

• 

• 

>. 

K 

* 

• 

1 

1 

1 

1 

x 

1 

1 
I 

[- 

< 

T 

1" 

f 

1 

T 
T 

? 

b 

1 

5EPTEMB 

U3 

• 

i 

1" 

1 

T 

i 

lavnNVX 

• 

\ 

j 

| 

t 

HI 

| 

r 

- 

| 

1 

i 

| 

i 

§ 

H 

\~ 

Trt 

*»•»- 

^"i; 

.-i.- 

-*» 

T.— 

e~—^> 

1    • 
"*»«• 

^. 

t-. 

mt 
-i 

J 

^ 

/*- 

.^v 

1—     — 

*^ 

...    •- 

^-* 

y^~ 

— 

J. 

""•'•" 

...• 

.' 

k.., 
\ 

->- 

.>> 

^•v 

5 

^ 

^ 

'S«- 

w% 

C*-v 

/ 

—  fc. 

„_.. 

!^ 

S^j 

% 

w_ 

fc* 

•:•• 

\ 

^ 

/ 

* 

*», 

«* 

\ 

...i 



.••• 



Tl 

'] 

.... 

- 

22 

KEY 

i  _«_    The  state  of  German  civilian  mom 
1.  MM     Variations  in  Germany's  military  ] 
».  •*•-  f  -4-     Decree  of  political  unity  in  Gerina 
*-•••«•<•«••     The  Food  situation  in  North  Germ 
i  ......     Condition  of  Austria  -Hungary. 
6.  ==     C-Boat  sinkings.    (Monthly  reports 

le. 

position, 
ay. 
wiy. 

of  tonnage  sunk.) 

•..-» 

Oft 

THB  SECRETARY  OP  WAR'S  OFFICIAL  CHART 

This  reproduction  of  Secretary  Baker's  chart,  which  hung  in  his  office  at  Washington, 

illustrates  graphically  Germany's  success  and  failure  in  the  war. 

far  announced  are  Major-Generals  Liggett,  Bullard,  Bundy,  Read, 
and  Wright. 

"The  creation  of  the  first  field  army  is  the  first  step  toward 
the  coordination  of  all  the  American  forces  in  France.  This 
does  not  mean  the  immediate  withdrawal  from  the  British  and 
French  commands  of  all  American  units,  and  it  is  probable  that 
divisions  will  be  used  on  the  French  and  British  fronts  for  weeks 
yet.  It  is  understood,  however,  that  the  policy  of  organizing  other 
armies  will  be  carried  out  steadily." 

This  announcement  marked  a  milestone  in  the  military  effort 

of  the  United  States.     When  the  American  troops  first  arrived  in 

ranee,  they  were  associated  in  small  units  with  the  French  to 

get  primary  training.     Gradually  regiments  began  to  function 


AMERICA  TRANSFORMED  BY  WAR 


under  French  division  commanders.  Then  American  divisions 
were  formed  and  trained  under  French  corps  commanders.  Next, 
American  corps  began  to  operate  under  French  army  commanders. 
Finally,  the  first  American  army  was  created,  because  enough 
divisions  and  corps  had  been  graduated  from  the  school  of  experience. 
An  American  division  numbers  30,000  men,  and  a  corps  con- 
sists of  six  divisions,  two  of  which  play  the  part  of  reserves.  With 
auxiliary  troops,  air  squadrons,  tank  sections,  heavy  artillery, 
and  other  branches,  a  corps  numbers  from  225,000  to  250,000  men. 


The  main  line  in  this  graph — the  heavy  broken  line — represents  the  state  of 
civilian  morale  in  Germany. 

German  morale  is  arbitrarily  regarded  as  standing  at  100%  in  August.  It  14. 

Zero,  for  the  same  line,  is  taken  to  be  the  point  at  which  an  effective  major- 
ity  of  the  German  people  will  refuse  longer  to  support  the  war. 

The  degree  of  movement  of  this  line  is  determined  mainly  by  a  consideration 
of  the  deflections  of  the  secondary  lines  which  represent  the  forces  exerting  the 
greatest  influence  on  the  German  state  of  mind. 

SHOWING  GERMANY'S  ROAD  TO  DEFEAT 

Austria's  fluctuations  are  indicated,  aa  well  as  the  morale,  military  position,  political 
and  food  conditions  and  undersea  enterprises  of  Germany. 

The  following  were  the  general  officers  temporarily  assigned 
to  command  the  first  five  corps : 

First  corps — Major-General  Hunter  Liggett. 

Second  corps — Major-General  Robert  L.  Bullard. 

Third  corps — Major-General  William  M.  Wright. 

Fourth  corps — ^Major-General  George  W.  Read. 

Fifth  corps — Major-General  Omar  Bundy. 

Seven  divisions  and  one  separate  regiment  of  American  troops 
participated  in  the  counter-offensive  between  Chateau-Thierry 
and  Soissons  and  in  resisting  the  German  attack  in  the  Champagne, 
it  was  officially  stated  on  July  20.  The  42d,  or  "Rainbow" 
Division,  composed  of  National  Guard  troops  from  twenty-six 


474  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

states  and  the  District  of  Columbia,  including  the  New  York 
69th  Infantry,  now  designated  as  the  165th  Infantry,  took  part  in 
the  fighting  in  the  Champagne  east  of  Rheims.  The  six  other 
divisions  were  associated  with  the  French  in  the  counter-offensive 
between  Chateau-Thierry  and  Soissons.  These  divisions  were  the 
1st,  t2d,  3d  and  4th  of  the  Regular  Army,  the  26th  National 
Guard  Division,  composed  of  troops  from  the  six  New  England 
States,  and  the  28th,  composed  of  the  Pennsylvania  National 
Guard.  Marines  were  included  in  this  number.  The  separate 
regiment  that  fought  hi  the  Champagne  was  a  negro  unit  attached 
to  the  new  93d  Division,  composed  entirely  of  negro  troops.  It 
was  also  announced  that  the  77th  Division  was  "hi  the  line  near 
Lune'ville"  and  was  "operating  as  a  division,  complete  under  its 
own  commander." 

The  42d  Division  had  the  distinction,  General  March  an- 
nounced on  August  3d,  of  defeating  the  4th  Division  of  the  crack 
Prussian  Guards,  professional  soldiers  of  the  German  standing  army, 
who  had  never  before  failed.  General  March  also  disclosed  the 
fact  that  another  American  division  had  been  sent  into  that  part 
of  the  Rheims  salient  where  the  Germans  showed  resistance.  This 
was  the  32d  Division.  "The  American  divisions  in  the  Rheims 
salient,"  General  March  said,  "have  now  been  put  in  contiguously 
and  are  actually  getting  together  as  an  American  force.  Southeast 
of  Fere-en-Tardenois  our  1st  Corps  is  operating,  with  General 
Liggett  hi  actual  command." 

The  organization  of  twelve  new  divisions  was  announced  by 
General  March,  Chief  of  Staff,  in  statements  made  on  July  24th 
and  July  31st.  These  divisions  were  numerically  designated  from 
9  to  20,  and  organized  at  Camps  Devens,  Meade,  Sheridan,  Custer, 
Funston,  Lewis,  Logan,  Kearny,  Beauregard,  Travis,  Dodge,  and 
Sevier.  Each  division  had  two  infantry  regiments  of  the  regular 
army  as  nucleus,  the  other  elements  being  made  up  of  drafted 
men.  The  new  divisions  moved  into  the  designated  camps  as  the 
divisions  already  trained  there  moved  out. 

The  composition  of  an  American  division  is  as  follows: 

Two  brigades  of  infantry,  each  consisting  of  two  regiments  of 
infantry  and  one  machine-gun  battalion. 

One  brigade  of  artillery,  consisting  of  three  regiments  of  field 
artillery,  and  one  trench  mortar  battery. 


(i3)  International  FdmService. 

SAFE  ON  SHORE  AT  LAST 

Arrival  of  American  troops  in  Liverpool  after  defying  the  perils  of  the  submarine. 
Note  the  bulk  of  the  packs  carried  by  each  toldier  in  heavy  marching  order. 


©  International  Film  Service. 


THE  FIRST  OF  THE  TIDAL  WAVE  OF  KHAKI 
Beeinnine  with  the  handful  of  American  soldiers  who  landed  in  France  on 
June TEST? the .flood  of  troops  poured  across  the  ocean  m  eyer-mcrea.mg 
volume  until  at  the  end  of  the  war  more  than  two  million  soldiers  fa 
transported  to  France, 


AMERICA  TRANSFORMED  BY  WAR          477 

One  regiment  of  engineers. 

One  field  signal  battalion. 

^  The    following    trains:     Headquarters    and    military   police, 
sanitary,  supply,  engineer,  and  ammunition. 

The  following  division  units:  Headquarters  troop  and  one 
machine-gun  battalion. 

A  general  order  of  the  War  Department  providing  for  the 
consolidation  of  all  branches  of  the  army  into  one  army  to  be  known 
as  the  " United  States  Army"  was  promulgated  by  General  March 
on  August  7th.  The  text  of  the  order  read: 

1.  This  country  has  but  one  army— the  United  States  Army.     It 
includes  all  the  land  forces  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.     Those 
forces,  however  raised,  lose  their  identity  in  that  of  the  United  States 
Army.      Distinctive  appellations,  such  as  the  Regular  Army,  Reserve 
Corps,   National  Army,  and  National  Guard,  heretofore  employed  in 
administration   command,   will  be  discontinued,   and  the  single  term, 
the  United  States  Army,  will  be  exclusively  used. 

2.  Orders  having  reference  to  the  United  States  Army  as  divided  in 
separate  and  component  forces  of  distinct  origin,  or  assuming  or  con- 
templating such  a  division,  are  to  that  extent  revoked. 

3.  The  insignia  now  prescribed  for  the  Regular  Army  shall  hereafter 
be  worn  by  the  United  States  Army. 

4.  All  effective  commissions  purporting  to  be,  and  described  therein, 
as  commissions  in  the  Regular  Army,  National  Guard,  National  Army, 
or  the  Reserve  Corps,  shall  hereafter  be  held  to  be,  and  regarded  as,  com- 
missions in  the  United  States  Army — permanent,  provisional,  or  tem- 

.porary,  as  fixed  by  the  conditions  of  their  issue;  and  all  such  commissions 
are  hereby  amended  accordingly.  Hereafter  during  the  period  of  the 
existing  emergency  all  commissions  of  officers  shall  be  in  the  United  States 
Army  and  in  staff  corps,  departments,  and  arms  of  the  service  thereof,  and 
shall,  as  the  law  may  provide,  be  permanent,  for  a  term,  or  for  the  period 
of  the  emergency.  And  hereafter  during  the  period  of  the  existing  emer- 
gency provisional  and  temporary  appointments  in  the  grade  of  second 
lieutenant  and  temporary  promotions  in  the  Regular  Army  and  appoint- 
ments in  the  Reserve  Corps  will  be  discontinued. 

5.  While  the  number  of  commissions  in  each  grade  and  each  staff 
corps,  department,  and  arm  of  the  service  shall  be  kept  within  the  limits 
fixed  by  law,  officers  shall  be  assigned  without  reference  to  the  term  of 
then:  commissions  solely  in  the  interest  of  the  service;   and  officers  and 
enlisted  men  will  be  transferred  from  one  organization  to  another  as  the 
interests  of  the  service  may  require. 

6.  Except  as  otherwise  provided   by  law,  promotion  in  the  United 
States  Army  shall  be  by  selection.     Permanent  promotions  in  the  Regular 
Army  will  continue  to  be  made  as  prescribed  by  law. 


CHAPTER,  XXXIV 

How  FOOD  WON  THE  WAR 

FOOD  won  the  war.     Without  the  American  farmer  the 
Entente  Allies  must  have  capitulated.     Wheat,  beef,  corn, 
foods  of  every  variety,  hermetically  sealed  in  tins,  were 
thrown  into  the  scales  on  the  side  of  the  Entente  Allies  in 
sufficient  quantities  to  tip  the  balance  toward  the  side  of  civiliza- 
tion and  against  autocracy.    Late  hi  the  fall  of  1918  when  victory 
was  assured  to  America  and  the  Allies,  there  was  received  this 
message  of  appreciation  from  General  Pershing  to  the  farmers  of 
America,  through  Carl  Vrooman,  Assistant  Secretary  of  Agriculture: 

AMERICAN  EXPEDITIONARY  FORCES, 
Office  of  the  Commander-in-Chief ,  France, 

October  16,  1918. 
Honorable  CARL  VROOMAN,  Assistant  Secretary  of  Agriculture: 

DEAR  MR.  VROOMAN: — Will  you  please  convey  to  farmers  of  America 
our  profound  appreciation  of  their  patriotic  services  to  the  country  and 
to  the  Allied  armies  in  the  field.  They  have  furnished  their  full  quota  of 
fighting  men;  they  have  bought  largely  of  Liberty  Bonds;  and  they  have 
increased  their  production  of  food  crops  both  last  year  and  this  by  over  a 
thousand  million  bushels  above  normal  production.  Food  is  of  vital 
military  necessity  for  us  and  for  our  Allies,  and  from  the  day  of  our  entry 
into  the  war  America's  armies  of  food  producers  have  rendered  invaluable 
service  to  the  Allied  cause  by  supporting  the  soldiers  at  the  front  through 
their  devoted  and  splendidly  successful  work  in  the  fields  and  furrows 
at  home. 

Very  sincerely, 

JOHN  J.  PERSHING. 

This  tribute  to  the  men  and  women  on  the  farms  of  America 
from  the  head  of  the  American  forces  hi  France  is  fit  recognition  of 
the  important  part  played  by  American  food  producers  hi  the  war. 
It  was  early  recognized  by  all  the  belligerent  powers  that  final 
victory  was  a  question  of  national  morale  and  national  endurance. 
Morale  could  not  be  maintained  without  food.  The  bread  lines  in 

m 


HOW  FOOD  WON  THE  WAR       479 

Petrograd  gave  birth  to  the  revolution,  and  Russian  famine  was  the 
mother  of  Russian  terrorism.  German  men  and  women,  starved 
of  fats  and  sweets,  deteriorated  so  rapidly  that  the  crime  ratio 
both  in  towns  and  country  districts  mounted  appallingly  Condi- 
tions in  Austria-Hungary  were  even  worse.  Acute  distress  arising 
from  threatening  famine  was  instrumental  hi  driving  Bulgaria  out 
of  the  war.  The  whole  of  Central  Europe  indeed  was  in  the 
shadow  of  famine  and  the  masses  were  crying  out  for  peace  at  any 
price. 

On  the  other  hand,  Germany's  greatest  reliance  for  a  victorious 
decision  lay  hi  the  U-boat  blockade  of  Great  Britain,  France  and 
Italy.  Though  some  depredations  came  to  these  countries,  the 
submarine  blockade  never  fully  materialized  and  with  its  failure 
Germany's  hopes  faded  and  died. 

The  Entente  Allies  and  the  United  States  were  fortunate  in 
securing  Herbert  C.  Hoover  to  administer  food  distribution  through- 
out their  lands  and  to  stimulate  food  production  by  therfarmers  of 
the  United  States.  After  his  signal  success  in  the  administration 
of  the  Belgian  Relief  Commission,  Mr.  Hoover  became  the  unani- 
mous choice  of  the  Allies  for  the  victualing  of  the  militant  and 
civilian  populations  after  America's  entrance  into  the  World  War. 
His  work  divided  itself  into  three  heads: 

First,  stimulation  of  food  production. 

Second,  elimination  of  food  wastage  in  the  homes  and  public 
eating  places  of  the  country. 

Third,  education  of  food  dealers  and  the  public  in  the  use  of 
such  foods  as  were  substitutes  for  wheat,  rye,  pork,  beef  and 
sugar. 

After  long  and  acrimonious  debates  in  Congress,  Mr.  Hoover, 
as  Federal  Food  Administrator,  was  clothed  with  extraordinary 
powers  enabling  him  to  fulfil  the  purposes  for  which  he  was 
appointed.  The  ability  with  which  he  and  his  associates  performed 
their  work  was  demonstrated  in  the  complete  debacle  of  Bulgaria, 
Turkey,  Austria-Hungary  and  Germany.  These  countries  were 
starved  out  quite  as  truly  as  they  were  fought  out.  The  concrete 
evidence  of  the  Food  Administration's  success  is  shown  in  the 
subjoined  table  which  indicates  the  increase  over  normal  in  export- 
ing of  foodstuffs  by  the  United  States  since  it  became  the  food  reser- 
voir for  the  world  on  account  of  the  war* 


480 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


TOTAL  EXPORTS 


3-year  pre- 

1916-17 fiscal 

1917-18  fiscal 

July.  1917.  to 

July.  1918.  to 

war  average. 

year. 

year. 

Sept.  30,  1917. 

Sept.  30.  1918. 

Total  beef  products,  Ibs.  . 

186,375,372 

405.427,417 

565.462.445 

93,962,477 

171,986.147 

Total  pork  products,  Ibs.  . 

996.230,627 

1.498.302,713 

1,691.437.435 

196,256.750 

540,946,324 

Total  dairy  products,  Ibs.  . 

26,037,790 

351.958,338 

590.798.274 

130,071.165 

161.245,029 

Total  vegetable  oils,  Ibs.  . 

332,430.537 

206,708.490 

151,029,893 

27.719,553 

26,026,701 

Total  grains,  bushels.  .  .  . 

183,777,331 

395,140,238 

*349.  123.235 

66,383,084 

121,668,823 

Total  sugar,  pounds  

621.745.507 

3.084.390.281 

2.149,787.050 

1,108.559.519 

1.065.398.247 

Upon  the  same  subject  Mr.  Hoover  himself  after  the  harvest 
of  1918  said: 

It  is  now  possible  to  summarize  the  shipments  of  foodstuffs  from 
the  United  States  to  the  allied  countries  during  the  fiscal  year  just  closed — 
practically  the  last  harvest  year.  These  amounts  include  all  shipments 
to  allied  countries  for  their  and  our  armies,  the  civilian  population,  the 
Belgium  relief,  and  the  Red  Cross.  The  figures  indicate  the  measure  of 
effort  of  the  American  people  in  support  of  allied  food  supplies. 

The  total  value  of  these  food  shipments,  which  were  in  the  main 
purchased  through,  or  with  the  collaboration  of  the  Food  AHminist.rfl.tinn, 
amounted  to,  roundly,  $1,400,000,000  during  the  fiscal  year. 

The  shipments  of  meats  and  fats  (including  meat  products,  dairy 
products,  vegetable  oils,  etc.)  to  allied  destinations  were  as  follows: 

POUNDS 

Fiscal  year  1916-17 2,166,500,000 

Fiscal  year  1917-18. 3,011,100,000 

Increase 844,600,000 

Our  slaughterable  animals  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  fiscal  year  were 
not  appreciably  larger  in  number  than  the  year  before;  and  particularly 
in  hogs,  there  were  probably  less.  The  increase  in  shipments  is  due  to 
conservation  and  the  extra  weight  of  animals  added  by  our  farmers. 

The  full  effect  of  these  efforts  began  to  bear  their  best  results  in  the 
last  half  of  the  fiscal  year,  when  the  exports  to  the  Allies  were  2,133,100,000 
pounds,  as  against  1,266,500,000  pounds  in  the  same  period  of  the  year 
before.  This  compares  with  an  average  of  801,000,000  pounds  of  total 
exports  for  the  same  half  years  of  the  three-year  pre-war  period. 

In  cereals  and  cereal  products  reduced  to  terms  of  cereal  bushels,  our 
shipments  to  allied  destinations  have  been: 

BUSHEIJS 

Fiscal  year  1916-17 259,900,000 

Fiscal  year  1917-18 340,800,000 

Increase 80,900,000 

*  mieat  harvest  1917-18  was  200,217.333  bushela  below  the  average  of  the  three  previous  years. 


HOW  FOOD  WON  THE  WAR  481 

Of  these  cereals  our  shipments  of  the  prime  breadstuffs  in  the  fiscal 
year  1917-18  to  allied  destinations  were:  Wheat,  131,000,000  bushels  and 
rye  13,900,000  bushels,  a  total  of  144,900,000  bushels. 

The  exports  to  allied  destinations  during  the  fiscal  year  1916-17 
were:  Wheat,  135,100,000  bushels  and  rye,  2,300,000  bushels,  a  total 
of  137,400,000  bushels.  In  addition,  some  10,000,000  bushels  of  1917 
wheat  are  now  in  port  for  allied  destinations  or  en  route  thereto.  The 
total  shipments  to  allied  countries  from  our  last  harvest  of  wheat  will  be, 
therefore,  about  141,000,000  bushels,  or  a  total  of  154,900,000  bushels  of 
prime  breadstuffs. 

In  addition  to  this  we  have  shipped  some  10,000,000  bushels  to 
neutrals  dependent  upon  us  and  we  have  received  some  imports  from 
other  quarters.  A  large  part  of  the  other  cereals  exported  has  also  gone 
into  war  bread. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  since  the  urgent  request  of  the  Allied 
Food  Controllers  early  in  the  year  for  a  further  shipment  of  75,000,000 
bushels  from  our  1917  wheat  than  originally  planned,  we  shall  have  shipped 
to  Europe,  or  have  en  route,  nearly  85,000,000  bushels.  At  the  time 
of  this  request  our  surplus  was  already  more  than  exhausted. 

This  accomplishment  of  our  people  in  this  matter  stands  out  even 
more  clearly  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  we  had  available  in  the  fiscal  year 
1916-17  from  net  carry  over  and  a  surplus  over  our  normal  consumption 
about  200,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  which  we  were  able  to  export  that 
year  without  trenching  on  our  home  loaf.  This  last  year,  however,  owing 
to  the  large  failure  of  the  1917  wheat  crop  we  had  available  from  net 
carry  over  and  production  and  imports  only  just  about  our  normal  con- 
sumption. Therefore  our  wheat  shipments  to  allied  destinations  represent 
approximately  savings  from  our  own  wheat  bread. 

These  figures,  however,  do  not  fully  convey  the  volume  of  the  effort 
and  sacrifice  made  during  the  past  year  by  the  whole  American  people. 
Despite  the  magnificent  effort  of  our  agricultural  population  in  planting 
a  much  increased  acreage  in  1917,  not  only  was  there  a  very  large  failure  in 
wheat,  but  also  the  com  failed  to  mature  properly,  and  corn  is  our 
dominant  crop. 

We  calculate  that  the  total  nutritional  production  of  the  country  for 
the  fiscal  year  just  closed  was  between  seven  per  cent  and  nine  per  cent 
below  the  average  of  the  three  previous  years,  our  nutritional  surplus 
for  export  in  those  years  being  about  the  same  amount  as  the  shrinkage  last 
year.  Therefore  the  consumption  and  waste  in  food  have  greatly  reduced 
in  every  direction  during  the  year. 

I  am  sure  that  the  millions  of  our  people,  agricultural  as  well  as  urban, 
who  have  contributed  to  these  results,  should  feel  a  very  definite  satis- 
faction that,  in  a  year  of  universal  food  shortage  in  the  Northern 
Hemisphere,  all  of  these  people  joined  together  against  Germany  have 
come  through  into  sight  of  the  coming  harvest  not  only  with  health  and 
strength  fully  maintained,  but  with  only  temporary  periods  of  hardship. 


482  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  European  Allies  have  been  compelled  to  sacrifice  more  than  our  own 
people,  but  we  have  not  failed  to  load  every  steamer  since  the  delays  of  the 
storm  months  of  last  winter. 

Our  contributions  to  this  end  could  not  have  been  accomplished  with- 
out effort  and  sacrifice,  and  it  is  a  matter  for  further  satisfaction,  that  it 
had  been  accomplished  voluntarily  and  individually.  It  is  difficult  to 
distinguish  between  various  sections  of  our  people — the  homes,  public 
eating  places,  food  trades,  urban  or  agricultural  populations— in  assessing 
credit  for  these  results,  but  no  one  will  deny  the  dominant  part  of  the 
American  woman. 

But  the  work  of  the  Food  Administration  did  not  come  to  an 
end  with  the  close  of  the  war.  Insistent  cries  for  food  came  from 
the  members  of  the  defeated  Teutonic  alliance,  as  well  as  from  the 
suffering  Allied  and  neutral  nations.  To  meet  those  demands, 
Mr.  Hoover  sailed  for  Europe  to  organize  the  food  relief  of  the 
needy  nations.  The  State  Department,  explaining  his  mission, 
stated  that  as  the  first  measure  of  assistance  to  Belgium  it  was 
necessary  to  increase  immediately  the  volume  of  foodstuffs  formerly 
supplied,  so  as  to  physically  rehabilitate  this  under-nourished 
population.  The  relief  commission  during  the  four  years  of  war 
sent  to  the  10,000,000  people  in  the  occupied  area  over  600  cargoes  of 
food,  comprising  120,000,000  bushels  of  breadstuffs  and  over 
3,000,000,000  pounds  of  other  foodstuffs  besides  20,000,000  gar- 
ments, the  whole  representing  an  expenditure  of  nearly  $600,000,000. 
The  support  of  the  commission  came  from  the  Belgian,  British, 
French  and  American  governments,  together  with  public  charity.  In 
addition  to  this  some  $350,000,000  worth  of  native  produce  was 
financed  internally  in  Belgium  by  the  relief  organization. 

The  second  portion  of  Mr.  Hoover's  mission  was  to  organize  and 
determine  the  need  of  foodstuffs  to  the  liberated  populations  in 
Southern  Europe — the  Czecho-Slovaks,  the  Jugo-Slavs,  and  Ser- 
bians, Roumanians  and  others. 

To  meet  the  conditions  in  Europe  following  the  armistice  of 
November  11,  1918,  the  employment  service  of  the  United  States 
set  to  work  laying  far-reaching  plans  for  meeting  the  problem  of 
world  food  shortage.  The  demands  after  the  war  were  greater 
than  they  had  been  during  the  conflict  but  the  nation  that  had 
fed  the  allies  of  civilization  in  war  time  performed  the  task  of 
feeding  the  world,  friend  and  foe  alike,  when  peace  at  length  came 
upon  the  earth. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY  IN  THE  WAR 

C[G  before  war  was  declared  the  United  States  Government 
had  been  engaged  in  preparation.  It  had  realized  that 
unrestricted  submarine  warfare  was  sure  to  lead  to  war,  and 
though  for  a  time  it  was  preserving  what  it  was  pleased  to 
call  "an  armed  neutrality"  the  President  doubtless  was  well  aware 
what  such  an  "armed  neutrality"  would  lead  to.  Merchant  ships 
were  being  armed  for  protection  against  the  submarine,  and  crews 
from  the  Navy  assigned  to  work  the  guns.  The  first  collision  was 
sure  to  mean  an  active  state  of  war.  The  Naval  Department, 
therefore,  was  working  at  full  speed,  getting  the  Navy  ready  for 
active  service  as  soon  as  war  should  be  declared. 

Secretary  Daniels  made  every  effort  to  obtain  the  crews  that 
were  necessary  to  man  the  new  ships  which  were  being  fully  com- 
missioned with  the  greatest  possible  speed  and  called  upon  news- 
papers all  through  the  country  to  do  their  utmost  to  stimulate 
enlistment. 

On  March  26th  President  Wilson  issued  an  order  increasing 
the  enlisted  strength  of  the  United  States  Marine  Corps  to  17,400 
men,  the  limit  allowed  under  the  law.  On  March  29th  a  hundred 
and  three  ensigns  were  graduated  from  the  Naval  Academy  three 
months  ahead  of  their  tune,  and  on  April  6th,  as  soon  as  war  was 
declared,  the  Navy  was  mobilized. 

Within  a  few  minutes  after  Secretary  Daniels  had  signed  the 
order  for  this  purpose  one  hundred  code  messages  were  sent  out 
from  the  office  of  Admiral  W.  S.  Benson,  Chief  of  Naval  Operations, 
which  placed  the  Navy  on  a  war  basis,  and  put  into  the  control  of 
the  Navy  Department  the  naval  militia  of  all  the  states  as  well  as 
the  Naval  Reserves  and  the  Coast  Guard  Service.  In  the  Naval 
Militia  were  about  584  officers,  and  7,933  men.  These  were  at 
once  assembled  and  assigned  to  coast  patrol  service.  All  of  the 
ships  that  were  in  active  commission  in  the  Navy  were  already 
ready  for  duty.  But  there  were  reserve  battleships  and  reserve 

483 


484  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

destroyers,  besides  ships  which  had  been  out  of  commission  which 
had  to  be  manned  as  quickly  as  possible. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  there  were  361  vessels  ready  for 
service,  including  twelve  first-line  battleships,  twenty-five  second- 
line  battleships,  nine  armored  cruisers,  twenty-four  other  cruisers, 
seven  monitors,  fifty  destroyers,  sixteen  coast  torpedo  vessels, 
seventeen  torpedo  boats,  forty-four  submarines,  eight  tenders  to 
torpedo  boats,  twenty-eight  gunboats,  four  transports,  four  supply 
ships,  one  hospital  ship,  twenty-one  fuel  ships,  fourteen  converted 
yachts,  forty-nine  tugs,  and  twenty-eight  minor  vessels.  There 
were  about  seventy  thousand  regularly  enlisted  men,  besides  eight 
thousand  five  hundred  members  of  the  naval  militia.  Many  yachts 
together  with  then1  volunteer  crews  had  been  offered  to  the  govern- 
ment by  patriotic  citizens. 

For  the  complete  mobilization  of  the  Navy,  as  it  then  stood, 
99,809  regularly  enlisted  men  and  45,870  reserves  were  necessary. 
About  twenty-seven  thousand  of  these  were  needed  for  coast 
defense,  and  twelve  thousand  at  the  various  shore  stations.  Retired 
officers  were  called  out,  and  assigned  to  duty  which  would  permit 
officers  on  the  active  list  to  be  employed  in  sea  duty.  The  Navy 
therefore  still  lacked  thirty-five  thousand  men  to  bring  it  up  to  its 
full  authorized  strength  at  the  beginning,  but  after  the  declaration 
of  war  an  active  recruiting  campaign  brought  volunteers  by  thou- 
sands. The  service  was  a  popular  one  and  recruits  were  easily 
obtained. 

One  of  the  first  phases  of  the  mobilization  was  the  organization 
of  a  large  fleet  of  mosquito  craft  to  patrol  the  Atlantic  Coast,  and 
keep  on  the  watch  for  submarines.  Many  of  these  boats  had  been 
private  yachts,  and  hundreds  of  young  men  volunteered  from 
the  colleges  and  schools  of  the  country  for  this  work.  Many  boat 
builders  submitted  proposals  to  construct  small  boats  for  this  kind 
of  patrol  duty,  and  on  March  31st  a  coast  patrol  fleet  was  organized 
by  the  government  under  the  command  of  Captain  Henry  B. 
Wilson. 

The  Navy  took  possession  immediately  on  the  declaration  of 
war  of  all  wireless  stations  in  the  United  States  dismantling  all  that 
could  not  be  useful  to  the  government.  War  zones  were  established 
along  the  whole  coast  line  of  the  United  States,  making  a  series  of 
local  barred  zones  extending  from  the  larger  harbors  in  American 


THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY  IN  THE  WAR    485 


486  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

waters  all  along  the  line.  These  harbors  were  barred  at  night 
to  entering  vessels  in  order  to  guard  against  surprise  by  German 
submarines.  Contracts  were  awarded  for  the  construction  of 
twenty-four  destroyers  even  before  war  was  declared,  and  many 
more  were  already  under  construction. 

The  growth  of  the  Navy  in  one  year  may  give  some  idea  of  the 
efficiency  of  the  Navy  Department.  In  April,  1917,  the  regular 
Navy  contained  4,366  officers  and  64,680  men.  In  April,  1918,  it 
contained  7,798  officers  and  192,385  men.  In  the  Marine  Corps  hi 
1917  there  were  426  officers  and  13,266  men.  In  one  year  this  was 
increased  to  1,389  officers  and  38,629  men.  In  the  organization  of 
the  Naval  Reserves,  naval  volunteers  and  coast  guards  there  were 
in  1917,  24,569  men;  hi  1918,  98,319  men,  and  11,477  officers. 

While  personnel  of  the  Navy  was  thus  expanding  the  United 
States  battle  fleet  had  grown  to  more  than  twice  the  size  of  the 
fleet  before  the  war.  When  war  was  declared  there  were  under 
construction  123  new  naval  vessels.  These  were  completed  and 
contracts  made  for  949  new  vessels.  Among  the  ships  completed  are 
fifteen  battleships,  six  battle  cruisers,  seven  scout  cruisers,  twenty- 
seven  destroyers,  and  sixty-one  submarines.  About  eight  hundred 
craft  were  taken  over  and  converted  into  transports,  patrol  service 
boats,  submarine  chasers,  mine  sweepers  and  mine  layers. 

The  government  also  seized  109  German  ships  which  had  been 
interned  hi  American  ports.  The  Germans  had  attempted  to 
damage  these  ships  so  that  they  would  be  useless,  but  they  were 
all  repaired,  and  carried  American  troops  and  supplies  in  great 
quantities  to  France. 

As  the  fleet  grew  the  training  of  the  necessary  officers  and 
crews  was  conducted  on  a  grand  scale.  Naval  camps  were  estab- 
lished at  various  points.  The  main  ones  were  those  at  Philadelphia, 
(League  Island);  Newport,  Rhode  Island;  Cape  May,  New  Jersey; 
Charleston,  South  Carolina;  Pensacola,  Florida;  Key  West, 
Florida;  Mare  Island,  California;  Puget  Sound,  Washington; 
Hingham,  Massachusetts;  Norfolk,  Virginia;  New  Orleans,  San 
Diego,  New  York  Navy  Yard;  Great  Lakes,  Illinois;  Pelham, 
New  York;  Hampton  Roads,  Virginia;  and  Gulf  port,  Mississippi. 
Schools  hi  gunnery  and  engineering  were  established  and  thousands 
of  gunners  and  engineers  were  trained,  not  only  for  the  Navy  but 
for  the  armed  merchant  vessels. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY  IN  THE  WAR   487 

The  training  of  gun  crews  by  target  practice  was  a  feature  of 
this  work.  Long  before  the  war  began  systematic  training  of  this 
kind  had  been  done,  but  mainly  in  connection  with  the  big  guns, 
and  great  efficiency  had  been  obtained  by  the  steady  practice. 
With  the  introduction  of  the  submarine,  it  became  necessary  to 
pay  special  attention  to  the  training  of  the  crews  of  guns  of  smaller 
caliber,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  officers  of  our  Navy  were 
congratulating  themselves  on  the  efficiency  of  their  men.  It  is 
not  easy  to  hit  so  small  a  mark  as  the  periscope  of  a  submarine,  but 
it  could  be  done  and  many  tunes  was  done. 

Twenty-eight  days  after  the  declaration  of  war  a  fleet  of 
United  States  destroyers  under  the  command  of  Admiral  William  S. 
Suns  reported  for  service  at  a  British  port. 

The  American  destroyer  squadron  arrived  at  Queenstown  after 
a  voyage  without  incident.  The  water  front  was  lined  with  an 
excited  crowd  carrying  small  American  flags,  which  cheered  the 
destroyers  from  the  tune  they  were  first  seen  until  they  reached  the 
dock.  They  cheered  again  when  Admiral  Suns  went  ashore  to 
greet  the  British  senior  officer  who  had  come  to  welcome  the 
Americans.  It  was  a  most  informal  function.  After  the  usual 
handshakes  the  British  commander  congratulated  the  Americans  on 
their  safe  voyage  and  then  asked: 

"When  will  you  be  ready  for  business?" 

"  We  can  start  at  once,"  was  the  prompt  reply  of  Admiral  Sims. 

This  rather  took  the  breath  away  from  the  British  commander 
and  he  said  he  had  not  expected  the  Americans  to  begin  work  so  soon 
after  their  long  voyage.  Later  after  a  short  tour  of  the  destroyers 
he  admitted  that  the  American  tars  looked  prepared. 

"Yes,"  said  the  American  commander,  "we  made  preparations 
on  the  way  over.  That  is  why  we  are  ready." 

Everything  on  board  the  destroyers  was  in  excellent  condition. 
The  only  thing  lacking  was  heavier  clothing.  The  American 
uniforms  were  too  light  for  the  cool  weather  which  is  common  in  the 
English  waters.  This  condition,  however,  was  quickly  remedied, 
and  the  American  ships  at  once  put  out  to  sea  all  in  splendid  con- 
dition and  filled  with  the  same  enthusiasm  that  the  Marines  showed 
later  at  Chateau-Thierry. 

"They  are  certainly  a  fine  body  of  men,  and  what's  more,  their 
craft  looked  just  as  fit,"  declared  the  British  commander. 


488  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

One  of  the  American  destroyers,  even  before  the  American 
fleet  had  arrived  at  Queenstown,  had  begun  war  duty.  It  had 
picked  up  and  escorted  through  the  danger  zone  one  of  the 
largest  of  the  Atlantic  liners.  The  passengers  on  board  the 
liner  sent  the  commander  of  the  destroyer  the  following  message: 

British  passengers  on  board  a  steamer,  bound  for  a  British  port, 
under  the  protection  of  an  American  destroyer,  send  their  hearty  greetings 
to  her  commander  and  her  officers  and  crew,  and  desire  to  express  their 
keen  appreciation  of  this  practical  co-operation  between  the  government 
and  people  of  the  United  States  and  the  British  Empire,  who  are  now 
fighting  together  for  the  freedom  of  the  seas. 

Moving  pictures  were  taken  by  the  official  British  Government 
photographer  as  the  American  flotilla  came  into  the  harbor,  and 
sailors  who  received  shore  leave  were  plied  with  English  hospitality. 
The  streets  of  Queenstown  were  decorated  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
As  soon  as  American  residents  in  England  learned  that  American 
warships  were  to  cross  the  Atlantic  they  held  a  conference  to  provide 
recreation  buildings,  containing  sleeping,  eating,  and  recreation 
accommodations  for  the  comfort  of  the  American  sailors.  The 
destroyer  flotilla  was  the  first  contribution  of  American  military 
power  to  the  Entente  Alliance  against  Germany. 

Admiral  Sims  is  one  of  the  most  energetic  and  efficient  of 
American  naval  officers  and  to  him  as  much  as  to  any  other  man 
is  due  the  efficiency  of  the  American  Navy.  During  the  period  just 
before  the  Spanish-American  War  Lieutenant  Suns  was  Naval 
Attache*  at  Paris,  and  rendered  invaluable  services  in  buying  ships 
and  supplies  for  the  Navy.  In  1900  he  was  assigned  to  duty  on  the 
battleship  Kentucky,  then  stationed  in  the  Orient.  In  1902  he 
was  ordered  to  the  Navy  Department  and  placed  in  charge  of  the 
Office  of  Naval  Practice,  where  he  remained  for  seven  years  and 
devoted  his  attention  to  the  improvement  of  the  Navy  in  gunnery. 
During  that  time  he  made  constant  trips  to  England  to  consult 
with  English  experts  in  gunnery  and  ordnance,  and  became  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  Sir  Percy  Scott,  who  had  been  knighted 
and  made  Rear- Admiral  for  the  improvements  he  had  introduced  hi 
connection  with,  the  gunnery  of  the  British  warships.  In  1909 
he  was  made  commander  of  the  battleship  Minnesota,  and  in  1911 
was  a  member  of  the  college  staff  at  the  Naval  War  College.  In 
1913  he  was  made  commander  of  the  torpedo  flotilla  of  the  Atlantic 


THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY  IN  THE  WAR   489 

fleet  and  in  1905  assigned  to  command  the  Dreadnaught  Nevada. 
In  1916  he  was  President  of  the  Naval  War  College.  He  was  made 
Rear-Admiral  in  1916  and  Vice-Admiral  in  1917  and  assigned  to  the 
command  of  all  American  war  vessels  abroad. 

Immediately  upon  their  arrival  the  American  vessels  began 
operation  in  the  submarine  zone.  Admiral  Beatty  then  addressed 
the  following  message  to  Admiral  Henry  T.  Mayo  of  the  United 
States  Atlantic  Fleet: 

The  Grand  Fleet  rejoices  that  the  Atlantic  fleet  will  now  share  in 
preserving  the  liberties  of  the  world  and  in  maintaining  the  chivalry  of 
the  sea. 

Admiral  Mayo  replied: 

The  United  States  Atlantic  Fleet  appreciates  the  message  from  the 
British  fleet  and  welcomes  opportunities  for  work  with  the  British  fleet  for 
the  freedom  of  the  seas. 

It  may  also  be  noted,  as  a  fact  which  is  not  without  significance, 
that  the  losses  by  submarine  which  had  reached  their  highest  mark 
in  the  last  week  in  April  began  from  that  time  steadily  to  diminish. 

One  of  the  main  duties  of  the  Navy  was  to  convoy  transports 
and  supplies  across  the  Atlantic.  This  was  done  with  the  assistance 
of  Allied  vessels  with  remarkable  success.  For  a  long  period  it 
seemed  as  if  the  U-boats  would  not  be  able  to  penetrate  through 
the  Allied  convoy,  but  during  1918  four  transports  were  torpedoed. 
The  first  was  the  Tuscania  which  was  sunk  in  February  off  the  north 
coast  of  Ireland,  with  1,912  officers  and  men  of  the  Michigan  and 
Wisconsin  guardsmen,  of  whom  204  were  lost.  The  Oronsa,  which 
was  torpedoed  in  April,  contained  250  men  and  all  were  saved  except 
three  of  the  crew.  The  Moldavia  came  next  with  five  hundred 
troops,  of  whom  fifty-five  were  lost.  On  September  6th  the  troopship 
Persic  with  2,800  American  soldiers  was  torpedoed  but  American 
destroyers  rescued  all  on  board,  and  the  Persic,  which  was  prevented 
from  sulking  by  its  water-tight  bulkheads,  was  afterwards  beached. 

Several  American  ships,  including  the  troop  transport  Mount 
Vemon,  were  torpedoed  on  return  trips  and  a  number  of  the  men 
of  their  crews  were  lost,  and  several  naval  vessels  were  lost,  including 
the  destroyer  Jacob  Jones,  and  the  patrol  vessel  Alcedo.  The 
Cassin  was  torpedoed,  but  reached  port  under  its  own  steam  and 
later  returned  to  service* 


490  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

In  September  and  October  three  more  American  transports 
were  added  to  the  list  of  American  losses.  On  September  26th 
the  United  States  steamer  Tampa  was  torpedoed  and  sank  with  all 
on  board,  losing  118  men.  On  September  30th  the  Ticonderoga 
was  also  torpedoed,  eleven  naval  officers  and  102  enlisted  men  being 

lost. 

In  addition  to  these  submarine  losses  several  ships  and  a 
number  of  men  were  lost  through  collision.  The  United  States 
steamer  Westgate  was  sunk  hi  a  collision  with  the  steamer  American 
on  October  7th,  with  the  loss  of  seven  men.  On  October  9th  the 
United  States  destroyer  Shaw  lost  fifteen  men  in  a  collision,  though 
she  later  succeeded  hi  reaching  port.  On  October  1 1th  the  American 
steamer  Otranto  was  sunk  in  a  collision  with  the  British  liner 
Cashmere.  Of  seven  hundred  American  soldiers  who  were  on 
board  365  were  lost.  At  this  tune  about  three  thousand  anti- 
submarine craft  were  in  operation  day  and  night  around  the  British 
Isles,  and  about  five  thousand  working  in  the  open  sea.  This  was 
what  made  it  possible  for  the  Allies  to  win  the  war. 

Inasmuch  as  the  illegal  use  of  the  submarine  by  Germany 
brought  America  into  the  war  it  was  extremely  appropriate  that  she 
should  take  an  active  part  in  the  suppression  of  the  submarine 
menace.  The  methods  which  were  used  in  fighting  the  submarines 
differed  much  in  different  cases.  The  action  of  the  government  in 
arming  merchantment  and  hi  providing  them  with  trained  gun 
crews  did  much  to  lower  the  number  of  such  ships  sunk  by  the 
U-boats. 

The  submarine,  which  had  formerly  been  able  to  stop  the 
unarmed  merchantman  and  sink  him  at  leisure,  after  a  few  com- 
bats with  an  armed  merchantman  began  to  be  very  wary  and  to 
depend  almost  entirely  upon  his  torpedoes.  It  was  not  always 
easy  for  the  submarine  to  get  in  a  position  where  her  torpedo 
would  be  effective,  and  the  merchantman  was  carefully  directed, 
if  attacked,  to  pursue  a  ziz-zag  irregular  course,  and  at  the  same 
tune  endeavor  to  hamper  the  submarine  by  shooting  as  near  her 
periscope  as  possible. 

Along  the  sea  coasts  and  at  certain  points  in  the  English 
Channel  great  nets  were  used  effectively.  Submarines,  however, 
toward  the  end  of  the  war  were  made  sufficiently  large  to  be  able  to 
force  their  way  through  these  nets,  and  net-cutting  devices  were 


THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY  IN  THE  WAR  491 

also  used  by  them  with  considerable  effect.  The  best  way  to  destroy 
the  submarines  seemed  to  be  in  a  direct  attack  by  flotillas  of 
destroyers. 

By  the  end  of  the  war  the  whole  process  of  sinking  or  destroy- 
ing submarines  had  been  thoroughly  organized.  Practically  every 
portion  of  the  seas  near  Great  Britain  and  France  was  carefully 
watched  and  the  appearance  of  a  submarine  immediately  reported. 
As  the  submarine  would  only  travel  at  a  certain  well-understood 
speed  during  a  given  time,  it  was  possible  to  calculate,  after  the 
locality  of  one  was  known,  about  how  far  from  that  point  it  would 
be  found  at  any  later  period.  Destroyers  were  therefore  sent 
circling  around  the  point  where  the  submarine  had  been  discovered, 
enlarging  their  distance  from  the  center  every  hour.  In  the  course 
of  time  the  submarine  would  be  compelled  to  come"up  for  air,  and 
then,  if  luck  were  with  the  destroyer,  it  might  find  its  foe  before 
it  was  seen  itself.  Having  discovered  the  submarine  the  destroyer 
immediately  endeavored  to  ram,  dropping  depth  bombs  at  the 
point  where  they  supposed  the  enemy  to  be. 

These  bombs  were  so  constructed  that  at  a  certain  depth  in  the 
water  they  would  explode,  and  the  force  of  the  explosion  was  so 
great  that  even  if  they  did  not  strike  the  submarine  they  would  be 
sure  to  damage  it  seriously,  sometimes  throwing  the  submarine  to 
the  surface  partly  out  of  water,  and  at  other  times  driving  her  to 
come  to  the  surface  herself  ready  to  surrender. 

In  many  cases  it  was  not  necessary  to  use  the  depth  bomb  at 
all.  The  gunners  on  board  the  destroyers  had  become  extraordi- 
narily expert,  and  though  a  shot  might  destroy  the  periscope  of  a 
submarine  without  doing  much  damage,  most  submarines  carrying 
extra  periscopes  to  use  if  necessary,  yet  it  was  soon  found  that  it 
was  possible  by  the  use  of  plunging  shells  to  do  effective  damage. 
Plunging  shells  are  somewhat  similar  in  their  operation  to  bombs. 
Such  a  shell  falling  just  short  of  a  periscope  and  fused  to  burst 
both  on  contact  and  at  a  certain  depth  was  extremely  likely  to 
do  damage. 

In  the  pursuit  of  the  U-boat  the  airplane  was  also  extremely 
effective.  These  were  sent  out  to  patrol  large  districts  near  the 
Allied  coast,  and  also,  in  some  cases,  from  ships  themselves.  It  is 
possible  in  certain  weather  conditions  for  the  observer  on  an  air- 
plane to  detect  a  submarine  even  when  it  is  submerged  and  the 


492  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

airplane  can  not  only  attack  the  submarine  by  dropping  depth 
bombs,  but  it  can  signal  at  once  the  location  of  the  enemy  to  the 
hurrying  destroyers.  Indeed,  as  the  submarine  warfare  proceeded 
the  main  difficulty  of  the  Allies  was  to  locate  the  submarines. 
Many  ingenious  devices  were  used  for  this  purpose,  and  many  of  the 
English  vessels  had  listening  attachments  under  water  which  were 
intended  to  make  it  possible  to  hear  a  submarine  as  it  moved. 
These,  however,  do  not  seem  to  have  been  very  effective.  The 
submarine  itself  seems  at  times  to  have  been  fitted  out  in  a  similar 
way  and  to  have  thus  been  able  to  hear  the  sound  of  an  approach- 
ing ship. 

Many  thrilling  reports  of  naval  actions  against  German  sub- 
marines were  given  out  officially  by  the  British  admiralty  from 
time  to  time.  In  most  of  these  cases  the  submarine  was  both 
rammed  and  attacked  by  depth  bombs.  In  nearly  all  of  them  the 
only  proof  of  success  was  the  oil  and  air  bubbles  which  came  to  the 
surface. 

One  interesting  encounter  was  that  in  which  a  British  submarine 
sighted  a  German  U-boat,  while  both  were  on  the  surface.  The 
British  submarine  dived  and  later  was  able  to  pick  up  the  enemy 
through  the  periscope  and  discharge  a  torpedo  in  such  a  way 
as  to  destroy  the  German  vessel.  When  the  British  submarine 
arose  it  found  a  patch  of  oil  in  which  Germans  were  swimming. 

Ordinarily,  however,  a  submarine  was  of  little  service  hi  a 
fight  against  another  for  the  radius  of  sight  from  a  periscope  is  so 
short  that  it  is  practically  blind  so  far  as  another  periscope  is  con- 
cerned. This  blindness  of  the  submarine  was  taken  advantage  of 
by  the  Allies  in  every  possible  way. 

Merchant  ships  were  camouflaged,  that  is  painted  in  such  a 
way  that  they  could  not  be  easily  distinguished  at  a  distance. 
In  the  great  convoys  ships  were  often  hidden  by  great  masses  of 
smoke  to  prevent  a  submarine  from  finding  an  easy  mark.  At 
night  all  lights  were  put  out  or  else  so  shaded  as  not  to  be  seen  by 
the  enemy.  The  result  of  these  methods  was  the  gradual  destruc- 
tion of  the  U-boat  menace. 

In  the  summer  of  1918,  while  occasionally  some  ship  was  lost, 
the  production  of  new  ships  was  much  greater  than  those  that  were 
sunk.  During  the  month  of  June  it  was  announced  that  the 
completion  of  new  tonnage  by  the  Allies  had  outstripped  the  losses 


THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY  IN  THE  WAR  495 

by  thousands  of  tons.  During  this  period  the  United  States  had 
attained  its  full  stride  in  building  ships,  airplanes  and  ordnance. 

Archibald  Kurd,  the  English  naval  expert,  said:  "When  the 
war  is  over  the  nation  will  form  some  conception  of  the  debt  which 
we  owe  the  American  Navy  for  the  manner  in  which  it  has  co-oper- 
ated, not  only  in  connection  with  the  convoy  system,  but  hi 
fighting  the  submarines.  If  the  naval  position  is  improving  today, 
as  it  is,  it  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  British  and  American  fleets  are 
working  in  closest  accord,  supported  by  an  immense  body  of  skilled 
workers  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  who  are  turning  out  destroyers 
and  other  craft  for  dealing  with  the  submarine,  as  well  as  mines  and 
bombs.  Some  of  the  finest  battleships  of  the  United  States  Navy 
are  now  associated  with  the  British  Grand  fleet.  They  are  not 
only  splendid  fighting  ships  but  they  are  well  officered  and  manned." 

On  May  13,  1918,  in  appreciation  of  some  remarks  which  had 
been  made  by  Sir  Eric  Geddes,  First  Lord  of  the  British  Admiralty, 
Josephus  Daniels,  the  American  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  addressed  a 
letter  to  him  in  the  following  terms: 

"Your  reference  to  the  splendid  spirit  of  co-operation  between 
the  navies  of  our  countries,  and  your  warm  praise  of  the  officers 
and  men  of  our  navy,  have  been  most  grateful  to  me  and  to  all 
Americans.  The  brightest  spot  in  the  tragedy  of  this  war  is  this 
mutual  appreciation  of  the  men  hi  the  naval  service.  Our  officers 
who  have  returned  confirm  the  statements  of  Admiral  Suns  of  the 
courtesies  and  kindness  shown  in  every  way  by  the  admiralty  and 
the  officers  of  the  British  fleet.  I  had  hoped  to  have  the  pleasure  of 
visiting  Great  Britain  and  of  personally  expressing  this  feeling  of 
mutual  working  together,  but  the  task  here  of  making  ready  more 
and  more  units  for  the  fleet  is  a  very  serious  one,  and  my  duty 
chains  me  here.  The  order  hi  all  the  Navy  is  'Full  speed  ahead' 
in  the  construction  of  destroyers  and  other  craft,  and  the  whole 
service  is  keyed  up  to  press  this  program  forward.  Therefore  I 
shall  not  have  the  pleasure,  until  this  program  shall  materialize, 
of  a  personal  acquaintance  and  a  conference  which  would  be  of 
such  interest  and  value." 

Sir  Eric  Geddes  replied:  "I  am  exceedingly  grateful  for  your 
letter.  As  you  know  we,  all  of  us  here,  have  great  admiration  for 
your  officers  and  men,  and  for  the  splendid  help  they  are  giving  in 
European  waters.  Further,  we  find  Admiral  Sims  invaluable  in 


496  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

council  and  in  co-operation.  I  fully  appreciate  how  onerous  your 
office  must  be  and  much  though  I  regret  that  you  do  not  see  your 
way  to  visiting  this  country  in  the  near  future,  I  hope  we  may  some 
day  have  the  pleasure  of  welcoming  you  here." 

Sir  Eric  afterward  himself  visited  the  United  States  and  his 
visit  was  made  the  occasion  of  a  general  expression  of  the  high 
regard  which  the  United  States  felt  for  the  splendid  assistance  which 
the  great  British  Navy  had  rendered  hi  convoying  its  armies  across 
the  eas. 

Secretary  Daniels,  in  his  report  of  December,  1918,  said  that 
American  sea  forces  hi  European  waters  comprised  338  vessels, 
with  75,000  men  and  officers — a  force  larger  than  the  entire  Navy 
was  before  the  war  began. 

From  August,  1914,  to  September,  1918,  German  submarines 
sank  7,157,088  deadweight  tons  of  shipping  hi  excess  of  the  tonnage 
turned  out  in  that  period  by  the  allied  and  neutral  nations.  That 
total  does  not  represent  the  depletion  of  the  fleets  at  the  command 
of  the  allied  and  neutral  nations,  however,  as  3,795,000  deadweight 
tons  of  enemy  ships  were  seized  in  the  meantime.  Actually,  the 
allied  and  neutral  nations  on  September  1,  1918,  had  only  3,362,088 
less  tons  of  shipping  in  operation  than  in  August,  1914. 

These  details  of  the  shipping  situation  were  issued  by  the 
United  States  Shipping  Board  along  with  figures  to  show  that,  with 
American  and  allied  yards  under  full  headway,  Europe's  danger  of 
being  starved  by  the  German  submarine  was  apparently  at  an  end. 
The  United  States  took  the  lead  of  all  nations  in  shipbuilding. 

In  all,  the  allied  and  neutral  nations  lost  21,404,913  dead- 
weight tons  of  shipping  since  the  beginning  of  the  war,  showing 
that  Germany  maintained  an  average  destruction  of  about  445,000 
deadweight  tons  monthly.  During  the  latter  months,  however, 
the  sinkings  fell  considerably  below  the  average,  and  allied  con- 
struction passed  destruction  for  the  first  time  in  May,  1918. 

The  losses  of  the  allied  and  neutral  shipping  in  August,  1918, 
amounted  to  327,676  gross  tonnage,  of  which  176,401  was  British 
and  151,275  allied  and  neutral,  as  compared  with  the  adjusted 
figures  for  July  of  323,772,  and  182,524  and  141,248,  respectively. 
British  losses  from  all  causes  during  August  were  10,887  tons 
higher  than  in  June,  which  was  the  lowest  month  since  the  intro- 
duction of  unrestricted  submarine  warfare. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY  IN  THE  WAR   497 

An  official  statement  of  the  United  States  Shipping  Board, 
issued  September  21,  1918,  set  forth  the  following  facts: 

STATUS  OF  WORLD  TONNAGE,  SEPTEMBER  1,  1918 
(Germany  and  Austria  excluded) 

Deadweight 
Tons 

Total  losses  (allied  and  neutral)  August,  1914-September  1,  1918  .........  21,404,913 

Total  construction  (allied  and  neutral)  August,  1914-September  1,  1918  .  .  .  14,247,825 
Total  enemy  tonnage  captured  (to  end  of  1917)  .........................     3,795,000 

Excess  of  losses  over  gains  ............................................     3,362,088 

Estimated  normal  increase  in  world's  tonnage  if  war  had  not  occurred  (based 

on  rate  of  increase,  1905-1914)  ....................................  14,700,000 

Net  deficit  due  to  war  ................................................  18,062,088 

In  August,  deliveries  to  the  Shipping  Board  and  other  seagoing  construction  in  the 
United  States  for  private  parties  passed  allied  and  neutral  destruction  for  that  month. 
The  figures: 


(Actual)  Tons 

Deliveries  to  the  Shipping  Board  .........................................  244,121 

Other  construction  over  1,000  gross  .......................................    16,918 


Total 261,039 

Losses  (allied  and  neutral) 259,400 

America  alone  surpassed  losses  for  month  by 1,630 

NOTE.— World's  merchant  tonnage,  as  of  June  30,  1914,  totaled  49,089,552  gross 
tons,  or,  roughly,  73,634,328  deadweight  tons.  (Lloyd's  Register.) 

The  climax  to  Germany's  piratical  submarine  adventure  took 
place  a  few  days  after  the  armistice,  when  a  mournful  procession  of 
shamefaced-looking  U-boats  sailed  between  lines  of  English  cruisers 
to  be  handed  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Allied  governments. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 
CHINA  JOINS  THE  FIGHTING  DEMOCRACIES 

r  i  ^"FTR  circumstances  connected  with  the  entrance  of  the 
Republic  of  China  into  the  World  War  were  as  follows: 
On  February  4,  1917,  the  American  Minister,  Dr.  Reinsch, 
requested  the  Chinese  Government  to  follow  the  United 
States  in  protesting  against  the  German  use  of  the  submarine  against 
neutral  ships.  On  February  9th  Pekin  made  such  a  protest  to 
Germany,  and  declared  its  intention  of  severing  diplomatic  relations 
if  the  protest  were  ineffectual.  The  immediate  answer  of  Germany 
was  to  torpedo  the  French  ship  Atlas  in  the  Mediterranean  on  which 
were  over  seven  hundred  Chinese  laborers.  On  March  10th  the 
Chinese  Parliament  empowered  the  government  to  break  with 
Germany.  On  the  same  afternoon  a  reply  was  received  from  the 
German  Government  to  the  Chinese  protest,  of  a  very  mild  char- 
acter. The  reply  produced  a  great  deal  of  surprise  in  China. 

A  Chinese  statesman  made  this  comment  on  the  German 
change  of  attitude:  "The  troops  under  Count  Waldersee  leaving 
Germany  for  the  relief  of  Pekin  were  instructed  by  the  War  Lord 
to  grant  no  quarter  to  the  Chinese.  On  the  other  hand,  the  latter 
were  to  be  so  disciplined  that  they  would  never  dare  look  a  German 
in  the  face  again.  The  whirligig  of  time  brings  its  own  revenge,  and 
today,  after  the  lapse  of  scarcely  seventeen  years,  we  hear  the 
Vossiche  Zetiung  commenting  on  the  diplomatic  rupture  between 
China  and  Germany,  lamenting  that  even  so  weak  a  state  as  the 
Far  Eastern  Republic  dares  look  defiantly  at  the  German  nation." 

The  breaking  off  of  relations  with  Germany  led  to  trouble 
between  the  President  of  the  Republic  and  the  Premier.  The 
Premier  desired  to  break  off  relations  without  consulting  Parliament. 
The  President  insisted  that  Parliament  should  be  consulted,  which 
was  actually  done.  The  next  move  was  to  declare  war,  but  here 
the  Chinese  statesmen  hesitated,  and  their  hesitation  arose  through 
their  feeling  toward  Japan. 

They  sympathized  with  the  Allies,  but  to  Chinese  eyes  Japan 

498 


CHINA  JOINS  THE  DEMOCRACIES  499 

has  stood  for  all  that  Germany,  as  depicted  by  its  worst  enemies, 
stood  for.  The  Japanese  Government  was  professing  friendliness 
to  China,  but  that  profession  the  Chinese  could  not  reconcile  with 
Japan's  action  in  the  Chino- Japanese  War,  and  on  many  other 
occasions  since  that  war.  In  Chinese  hearts  there  was  a  strong 
feeling  of  distrust,  fear  and  hatred  for  their  Japanese  neighbor. 
There  were  other  reasons  also  why  they  hesitated  to  declare  war. 
Indeed  the  devotion  to  peace,  which  is  deep-rooted  in  the  nation, 
would  be  a  sufficient  reason  in  itself. 

Moreover,  China,  like  other  neutral  nations,  was  a  strong 
center  for  German  propaganda.  German  consuls  and  diplomatic 
officers,  who  were  scholars  in  Chinese  literature  and  philosophy, 
and  who  also  had  sufficient  funds  to  entertain  Chinese  officials  as 
they  liked  to  be  entertained,  were  actively  endeavoring  to  influence 
Chinese  statesmen. 

The  Chinese  Government,  however,  was  determined  to  declare 
war,  and  to  secure  support  the  Chinese  Premier  summoned  a 
council  of  military  governors  to  consider  the  question.  The  majority 
of  the  conference  agreed  with  the  Premier,  but  a  vigorous  opposition 
began  to  develop.  On  May  7th  the  President  sent  a  formal 
request  to  Parliament  to  approve  of  a  declaration  of  war.  Parlia- 
ment delayed  and  was  threatened  by  a  mob.  The  Premier  was 
accused  of  having  instigated  the  riot  and  support  began  to  gather 
for  Parliament,  and  an  attack  was  made  on  the  Premier  as  being 
willing  to  sell  China. 

Day  by  day  the  differences  between  the  militants  and  demo- 
crats became  more  bitter.  The  question  of  war  was  almost  lost  in 
the  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  comparative  powers  of  Parliament 
and  the  Executive.  A  demand  was  made  that  the  Premier  resign. 
He  refused  to  resign  and  was  dismissed  from  office  by  the  President, 
who  was  supported  in  his  action  by  the  Parliament.  This  was 
practically  a  success  of  the  Parliamentary  party,  when  suddenly 
several  of  the  northern  generals  and  governors  declared  their 
independence,  and  the  movement  gradually  developed  into  a 
revolution  in  favor  of  the  restoration  of  the  Manchu  Dynasty. 
This  revolution  was  finally  suppressed. 

The  Japanese  declared  themselves,  not  the  enemies,  but  the 
protectors  of  China  hi  terms  that  suggested  the  appearance  of  a 
Monroe  Doctrine  for  Asia.  They  pledged  themselves  not  to  violate 


500  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  political  independence  or  territorial  integrity  of  China,  and 
declared  strongly  in  favor  of  the  principle  of  the  open  door  and 
equal  opportunity. 

On  August  14th  China  formally  joined  the  Allies  and  declared 
war  on  Austria  and  Germany.  She  took  no  great  part  in  the  war, 
except  to  invade  the  German  and  Austrian  settlements  in  Tientsin 
and  Hankow,  which  were  taken  over  by  the  Chinese  authorities. 
The  Chinese  officials  also  seized  the  Deutsche  Asiatiche  Bank  which 
had  been  the  financing  agent  in  China  for  the  German  Government, 
and  fourteen  German  vessels  which  had  been  interned  in  Chinese 
ports.  Thousands  of  Chinese  coolies  were  sent  to  Europe  to  work 
hi  the  Allied  interests  behind  the  battle  lines,  and  China  has  in  all 
respects  been  faithful  to  her  pledges. 

The  official  war  proclamation  of  China  which  was  signed  by 
President  Feng-kuo-chang  reviewed  China's  efforts  to  induce 
Germany  to  modify  her  submarine  policy.  It  declared  that  China 
had  been  forced  to  sever  relations  with  Germany  and  with  Austro- 
Hungary  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  Chinese  citizens. 
It  promised  that  China  would  respect  the  Hague  Convention, 
regarding  the  humane  conduct  of  the  war,  and  asserted  that 
China's  object  was  to  hasten  peace. 

On  July  22d  Siam  officially  entered  the  war  and  all  German 
and  Austrian  subjects  were  interned  and  German  ships  seized.  The 
Prince  of  Songkla,  brother  of  the  reigning  monarch,  declared  that 
natural  necessity  and  moral  pressure  forced  Siam  into  the  war  on 
the  side  of  the  Entente.  Neutrality  had  become  increasingly  diffi- 
cult, and  it  had  become  apparent  that  freedom  and  justice  in  states 
which  were  not  strong  from  a  military  standpoint  were  not  to  be 
secured  through  the  policy  of  the  Central  Powers.  Sympathy  for 
Belgium  and  the  popular  aversion  to  Teutonic  methods  had  left 
no  doubt  as  to  the  duty  of  Siam.  The  motive  of  Siam  had  a  curious 
fitness,  though  there  was  a  certain  quaintness  in  her  expression  of  a 
desire  to  make,  "the  world  safe  for  democracy." 

The  native  name  of  Siam  is  Muang-Thai,  which  means  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Free.  Siam  is  about  as  large  as  France,  and  has  a 
population  of  about  eight  millions.  Its  people,  who  are  of  many 
shades  of  yellowish-brown,  have  descended  into  this  corner  of  Asia 
from  the  highlands  north  of  Burma  and  east  of  Tibet.  The  tradition 
among  these  people  was  that  the  further  south  thev  descended  the 


CHINA  JOINS  THE  DEMOCRACIES  501 

shorter  they  would  grow,  that  when  they  reached  the  southern 
plains  they  would  be  no  larger  than  rabbits,  and  that  when  they 
came  to  the  sea  they  would  vanish  altogether.  As  a  fact  the 
northern  tribes  are  much  taller  than  the  southern. 

The  original  population  of  the  Siamese  peninsula  was  a  race 
of  black  dwarfs,  remnants  of  whom  still  dwell  in  caves  and  nests  of 
palm  leaves,  so  shy  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  catch  a  glimpse  of 
them.  The  literary  and  religious  culture  of  Siam  comes  mainly 
from  southern  India  Buddhism  is  the  dominant  religion,  but 
there  are  many  Mohammedans  also. 

The  accession  of  Siam  to  the  ranks  of  the  Allies  did  not  make 
any  great  difference  from  a  military  point  of  view,  but  it  was  another 
evidence  of  the  general  world  feeling  with  regard  to  the  Germans  and 
their  encroachments  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Germany  had  tried 
its  best  to  keep  these  nations  from  participation  in  the  war,  but 
not  only  had  her  propaganda  failed  but  the  feeling  of  these  Oriental 
peoples  was  strongly  anti-German.  Much  of  this  feeling,  it  is 
readily  seen  from  their  statements  and  their  private  letters,  comes 
from  a  personal  resentment  of  the  boorish  attitude  of  the  individual 
German.  By  the  end  of  1918  the  Teuton  influence  in  the  Orient 
had  completely  disappeared. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 


NONE  of  the  surprises  of  the  World  War  brought  such 
sudden  and  stunning  dismay  to  the  Entente  Allies  as 
the  news  of  the  Italian  disaster  beginning  October  24, 
1917,  and  terminating  in  mid-November.  It  is  a  story 
hi  which  propaganda  was  an  important  factor.  It  taught  the 
Allies  the  dangers  lying  hi  fraternization  between  opposing  armies. 

During  the  summer  of  1917  the  second  Italian  army  was 
confronted  by  Austrian  regiments  composed  largely  of  war-weary 
Socialists.  During  that  summer  skilful  German  propagandists 
operating  from  Spain  had  sown  the  seeds  of  pacificism  throughout 
Italy.  This  was  made  easy  by  the  distress  then  existing  particu- 
larly in  the  villages  where  food  was  scanty  and  complaints  against 
the  conduct  of  the  war  were  numerous.  The  propaganda  extended 
from  the  civilian  population  to  the  army,  and  its  channel  was 
directed  mainly  toward  the  second  army  encamped  along  the 
Isonzo  River. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  pacifists'  preachments  both  by  word 
of  mouth  and  document,  the  second  army  was  ready  for  the 
friendly  approaches  that  came  from  the  front  lines  of  the  Austrians 
only  a  few  hundred  yards  away.  Daily  communication  was  estab- 
lished and  at  night  the  opposing  soldiers  fraternized  generally. 
The  Russian  doctrine  that  an  end  of  the  fighting  would  come  if 
the  soldiers  agreed  to  do  no  more  shooting,  spread  throughout  the 
Italian  trenches. 

This  was  all  part  of  a  plan  carefully  mapped  out  by  the  Ger- 
man High  Command.  When  the  infection  had  spread,  the  fra- 
ternizing Austrian  troops  were  withdrawn  from  the  front  trenches 
and  German  shock  troops  took  their  places. 

On  October  24th  these  troops  attacked  hi  force.  The  Italians 
in  the  front  line,  mistaking  them  for  the  friendly  Austrians,  waved 
a  greeting.  German  machine  guns  and  rifles  replied  with  a  deadly 
fire,  and  the  great  flanking  movement  commenced.  So  well  had 

602 


THE  DEFEAT  AND  RECOVERY   OF  ITALY  503 

the  Germans  played  their  game  the  Italians  lost  more  than 
250,000  prisoners  and  2,300  guns  in  the  first  week.  The  attack 
began  in  the  Julian  Alps  and  continued  along  the  Isonzo  south- 
westward  into  the  plain  of  Venice.  The  Italian  positions  at  Tol- 
mino  and  Plezzo  were  captured  and  the  whole  Italian  force  was 
compelled  to  retreat  along  a  seventy-mile  front  from  the  Carnic 
Alps  to  the  sea.  The  most  important  point  gained  by  the  enemy 
in  its  early  assault  was  the  village  of  Caporetto  on  the  Upper 


AREA  OP  THE  FLOW  AND  EBB  OP  ITALY'S  MILITABY  SUCCESS 
From  the  Carso  plateau  to  the  Piave  line. 

Isonzo  where  General  Cadorna  held  a  great  series  of  dams  which 
could  have  drained  the  Isonzo  River  dry  within  twelve  hours. 

The  Italian  retreat  at  places  degenerated  into  a  rout  and  it 
was  not  until  the  Italians,  reinforced  by  French  and  British, 
reached  the  Piave  River,  that  a  stand  was  finally  made.  The 
defeat  cost  Cadorna  his  command,  and  he  was  succeeded  by  General 
Armando  Diaz,  whose  brilliant  strategy  during  the  remainder  of 
the  war  marked  him  as  a  national  hero  and  one  of  the  outstanding 
military  geniuses  of  the  war. 

The  order  for  a  general  retreat  was  issued  on  October  27th. 


504  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Poison  gas  shells  rained  blindness  and  death  upon  the  retreating 
Italians  and  upon  the  heroic  rear-guards.  The  city  of  Udine  and 
its  environs  were  emptied  of  their  inhabitants;  and  Goritzia,  which 
had  been  wrested  after  a  desperate  effort  from  the  Austrians,  was 
retaken  on  October  28th. 

That  the  entire  Italian  army  escaped  the  fate  that  had  come 
to  the  Russians  at  the  Masurian  Lakes  was  due  mainly  to  the  third 
army  commanded  by  the  Duke  of  Aosta.  During  the  long  running 
fight,  it  faced  about  from  tune  to  tune  and  drove  the  Germans  back 
hi  bloody  encounters. 

By  November  10th  the  Italian  forces  had  come  to  the  hastily 
prepared  entrenchments  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Piave  River. 
The  Austrians  and  the  Germans  dug  hi  on  the  east  bank  from 
the  village  of  Susegana  hi  the  Alpine  foothills  to  the  Adriatic  Sea. 

Here  a  long-drawn-out  battle  was  fought,  resulting  in  enormous 
losses  to  the  Germans  and  Austrians.  By  this  tune  reinforcements 
had  come  up  from  the  French  front  and  every  attempt  by  the 
enemy  to  g,ain  ground  met  a  bloody  check.  The  hardest  fighting 
was  on  the  Asiago  Plateau.  There,  although  the  Italians  were 
greatly  outnumbered,  the  concentration  of  their  artillery  in  the 
hills  overlooking  the  great  field  completely  dominated  the  situation. 

A  factor  that  was  of  the  utmost  value  in  checking  the  Aus- 
trians was  the  system  of  lagoon  defenses  rumung  from  the  lower 
Piave  to  the  Gulf  of  Venice. 

From  November  13th,  when  the  Austrians  in  crossing  the 
lower  Piave  in  their  headlong  rush  to  Venice  were  suddenly 
checked  by  the  Italian  lagoon  defenses,  the  entire  Gulf  of  Venice, 
with  its  endless  canals  and  marshes,  with  islands  disappearing  and 
reappearing  with  the  tide,  was  the  scene  of  a  continuous  battle. 
A  correspondent  described  the  fighting  as  absolutely  without  pre- 
cedent. The  Teutons  were  desperately  trying  to  turn  the  Italian 
right  wing  by  working  their  way  around  the  northern  limits  of 
the  Venetian  Gulf.  The  Italians  inundated  the  region  and  sealed 
all  the  entrances  into  the  gulf  by  mine  fields.  The  gulf,  therefore, 
was  converted  into  an  isolated  sea.  Over  this  inland  waterway 
the  conflict  raged  bitterly.  The  Italians  had  a  "lagoon  fleet" 
ranging  from  the  swiftest  of  motor  boats,  armed  with  machine 
guns,  small  cannon,  and  torpedo  tubes,  to  huge,  cumbersome, 
flat-bottomed  British  monitors,  mounting  the  biggest  guns. 


THE   DEFEAT  AND  RECOVERY  OF  ITALY  505 

The  Italian  vessels  navigated  secret  channels  dug  in  the  bottom 
of  the  shallow  lagoons.  Only  the  Italian  war  pilots  knew  these 
courses.  Even  gondolas  straying  out  of  the  channels  were  instantly 
and  hopelessly  stranded.  Not  only  this,  but  as  the  muddy  flats 
and  marshy  islands  did  not  permit  of  artillery  emplacements  the 
Italians  developed  an  immense  fleet  of  floating  batteries.  The 
guns  ranged  from  three-inch  fieldpieces  to  great  fifteen-inch  mon- 
sters. Each  was  camouflaged  to  represent  a  tiny  island,  a  garden 
patch,  or  a  houseboat.  Floating  on  the  glasslike  surface  of  the 
lagoons,  the  guns  fired  a  few  shots  and  then  changed  position,  mak- 
ing it  utterly  impossible  for  the  enemy  to  locate  them.  The  entire 
auxiliary  service  of  supplying  this  floating  army  was  adapted  to 
meet  the  lagoon  warfare.  Munition  dumps  were  on  boats,  con- 
stantly moved  about  to  prevent  the  enemy  spotting  them.  Gon- 
dolas and  motor  boats  replaced  the  automobile  supply  lorries 
customary  in  land  warfare.  Instead  of  motor  ambulances,  motor 
boats  carried  off  the  dead  and  wounded.  Hydro-airplanes  replaced 
ordinary  fighting  aircraft. 

Along  the  northern  limit  of  the  Venetian  Gulf,  where  the 
Austrians,  having  filtered  into  the  Piave  Delta,  sought  to  cross 
both  the  Sile  and  the  Piave,  the  enemy  each  night  hooked  up 
pontoons.  At  daybreak  every  morning  one  end  of  a  hugh  pon- 
toon structure  was  anchored  to  the  east  bank  of  the  Piave  and  the 
other  flung  out  to  the  strong  current,  which  soon  stretched  the 
makeshift  bridge  across. 

The  moment  this  happened,  the  enemy  infantry  madly  dashed 
across.  Simultaneously  the  Italian  floating  batteries  opened  a 
terrific  fire.  Practically  every  morning  the  Austrians  tried  the 
trick,  and  every  morning  they  failed,  with  heavy  losses,  to  effect  a 
crossing.  At  last  they  gave  up  the  attempt  as  hopeless,  and  the 
armies  remained  locked  on  the  Piave  for  several  months. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 
REDEMPTION  OP  THE  HOLY  LAND 

FROM  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  German  General  Staff 
and  the  British  War  Office  planned  the  occupation  of 
Palestine  and  Macedonia.     Germany  wanted  domination 
of  that  territory  because  through  it  lay  the  open  road  to 
Egypt  and  British  prestige  in  the  East.  Turkey  was  the  cat's  paw 
of  the  Hun  in  this  enterprise.     German  officers  and  German  guns 
were  supplied  to  the  Turks,  but  the  terrible  privations  necessary 
in  a  long  campaign  that  must  be  spent  largely  in  the  desert,  and 
the  inevitable  great  loss  in  human  life,  were  both  demanded  from 
Turkey. 

Great  Britain  made  no  such  demands  upon  any  of  its  Allies. 
Unflinchingly  England  faced  virtually  alone  the  rigors,  the  disease 
and  the  deaths  consequent  upon  an  expedition  having  as  its  object 
the  redemption  of  the  Holy  Land  from  the  unspeakable  Turk. 

Volunteers  for  the  expedition  came  by  the  thousands. 
Canada,  the  United  States,  Australia  and  other  countries  furnished 
whole  regiments  of  Jewish  youths  eager  for  the  campaign.  The 
inspiration  and  the  devotion  radiating  from  Palestine,  and  particu- 
larly from  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem,  drew  Jew  and  Gentile,  hardy 
adventurer  and  zealous  churchman,  into  AUenby's  great  army. 

It  was  a  long  campaign.  On  February  26,  1917,  Kut-el- 
Amara  was  recaptured  from  the  Turks  by  the  British  expedition 
under  command  of  General  Sir  Stanley  Maude,  and  on  March  llth 
following  General  Maude  captured  Bagdad.  From  that  tune 
forward  pressure  upon  the  Turks  was  continuous.  On  September 
29,  1917,  the  Turkish  Mesopotamian  army  commanded  by  Ahmad 
Bey  was  routed  by  the  British,  and  historic  Beersheba  in  Palestine 
was  occupied  on  October  31st.  The  untimely  death  of  General 
Maude,  the  hero  of  Mesopotamia,  on  November  18,  1917,  tem- 
porarily cast  gloom  over  the  Allied  forces  but  it  had  no  deterrent 
effect  upon  their  successful  operations.  Siege  was  laid  to  Jerusalem 
and  its  environs  late  in  November,  and  on  December  8,  1917,  the 


REDEMPTION  OF  THE  HOLY  LAND         507 

Holy  City  which  had  been  held  by  the  Turks  for  six  hundred  and 
seventy-three  years  surrendered  to  General  Allenby  and  his  British 
army.  Thus  ended  a  struggle  for  possession  of  the  holiest  of 
shrines  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  that  had  cost  mil- 


How  THE  Two  WINGS  OP  THE  BRITISH  ARMT  TRAPPED  THB  TURKS. 


lions  of  Hves  during  fruitless  crusades  and  had  been  the  center  of 

religious  aspirations  for  ages. 

General  Allenby's  official  report  follows: 

"I  entered  the  city  officially  at  noon  December  ; 


508  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

few  of  my  staff,  the  commanders  of  the  French  and  Italian  detach- 
ments, the  heads  of  the  political  missions,  and  the  military  attache's 
of  France,  England,  and  America. 

"The  procession  was  all  afoot,  and  at  Jaffa  gate  I  was  received 
by  the  guards  representing  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  Wales, 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  India,  France  and  Italy.  The  population 
received  me  well. 

"Guards  have  been  placed  over  the  holy  places.  My  military 
governor  is  hi  contact  with  the  acting  custodians  and  the  Lathi 
and  Greek  representatives.  The  governor  has  detailed  an  officer 
to  supervise  the  holy  places.  The  Mosque  of  Omar  and  the  area 
around  it  have  been  placed  under  Moslem  control,  and  a  military 
cordon  of  Mohammedan  officers  and  soldiers  has  been  established 
around  the  mosque.  Orders  have  been  issued  that  no  non-Moslem 
is  to  pass  within  the  cordon  without  permission  of  the  military 
governor  and  the  Moslem  in  charge." 

A  proclamation  in  Arabic,  Hebrew,  English,  French,  Italian 
Greek  and  Russian  was  posted  hi  the  citadel,  and  on  all  the  walls 
proclaiming  martial  law  and  intimating  that  all  the  holy  places 
would  be  maintained  and  protected  according  to  the  customs  and 
beliefs  of  those  to  whose  faith  they  were  sacred.  The  proclamation 
read: 

PROCLAMATION 

To  the  Inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  the  Blessed  and  the  People  Dwelling 
in  Its  Vicinity. 

The  defeat  inflicted  upon  the  Turks  by  the  troops  under  my  command 
has  resulted  in  the  occupation  of  your  city  by  my  forces.  I,  therefore, 
proclaim  it  to  be  under  martial  law,  under  which  form  of  adminis- 
tration it  will  remain  so  long  as  military  consideration  makes  necessary. 

However,  lest  any  of  you  be  alarmed  by  reason  of  your  experience 
at  the  hands  of  the  enemy  who  has  retired,  I  hereby  inform  you  that  it  is 
my  desire  that  every  person  should  pursue  his  lawful  business  without 
fear  of  interruption. 

Futhermore,  since  your  city  is  regarded  with  affection  by  the 
adherents  of  three  of  the  great  religions  of  mankind  and  its  soil  has  been 
consecrated  by  the  prayers  and  pilgrimages  of  multitudes  of  devout  people 
of  these  three  religions  for  many  centuries,  therefore,  do  I  make  it  known 
to  you  that  every  sacred  building,  monument,  holy  spot,  shrine,  traditional 
te,  endowment,  pious  bequest,  or  customary  place  of  prayer  of  whatso- 
ever form  of  the  three  religions  will  be  maintained  and  protected  according 
to  the  existing  customs  and  beliefs  of  those  to  whose  faith  they  are  sacred. 


REDEMPTION  OF  THE  HOLY  LAND        509 

Guardians  have  been  established  at  Bethlehem  and  on  Rachel's 
Tomb.  The  tomb  at  Hebron  has  been  placed  under  exclusive  Moslem 
control. 

The  hereditary  custodians  at  the  gates  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  have 
been  requested  to  take  up  their  accustomed  duties  in  remembrance  of  the 
magnanimous  act  of  the  Caliph  Omar,  who  protected  that  church. 

Jerusalem  was  now  made  the  center  of  the  British  operations 
against  the  Turks  in  Palestine.  Mohammed  V,  the  Sultan  of 
Turkey,  died  July  3,  1918,  and  many  superstitious  Turks  looked 
upon  that  event  as  forecasting  the  end  of  the  Turkish  Empire. 
The  Turkish  army  in  Palestine  was  left  largely  to  its  fate  by  Ger- 
many and  Austria,  and  although  it  was  numerically  a  formidable 
opponent  for  General  Allenby's  forces,  that  distinguished  strategist 
fairly  outmaneuvered  the  Turkish  High  Command  in  every 
encounter.  The  beginning  of  the  end  for  Turkish  misrule  in 
Palestine  came  on  September  20th  when  the  ancient  town  of 
Nazareth  was  captured  by  the  British. 

A  military  net  was  thereupon  closed  upon  the  Turkish  army. 
The  fortified  towns  of  Beisan  and  Afule  followed  the  fate  of 
Nazareth.  In  one  day's  fighting  18,000  Turkish  prisoners,  120  guns, 
four  airplanes,  a  number  of  locomotives  and  cars,  and  a  great  quan- 
tity of  military  and  food  supplies  were  bagged  by  the  victorious 
British.  So  well  did  Allenby  plan  that  the  British  losses  were  far 
the  smallest  suffered  in  any  large  operation  of  the  entire  war.  It 
was  the  swiftest  and  most  decisive  victory  of  any  scored  by  the 
Allies.  It  ended  the  grandiose  dream  of  Germany  for  an  invasion 
of  Egypt  in  stark  disaster,  and  swept  the  Holy  Land  clear  of 
the  Turks. 

This  great  battle  on  the  Biblical  field  of  Armageddon  was 
remarkable  in  that  it  was  virtually  the  only  engagement  during 
the  entire  war  offering  the  freest  scope  to  cavalry  operations. 
British  cavalry  commands  operated  over  a  radius  of  sixty  miles 
between  the  Jordan  and  the  Mediterranean,  sweeping  the  Turks 
before  them. 

By  September  25th  the  total  bag  of  Turkish  prisoners  exceeded 
40,000.  Munition  depots  covering  acres  of  ground  were  taken. 
Whole  companies  of  Turkish  soldiers  were  found  sitting  on  their 
white  flags  waiting  for  the  British  to  accept  their  terms.  Two 
hundred  sixty-five  pieces  of  artillery  were  captured. 


510  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Damascus  was  captured  on  Tuesday,  October  1st,  after  an 
advance  of  130  miles  by  General  Allenby  since  September  1st, 
the  day  of  his  surprise  attack  north  of  Jerusalem.  During  that 
period  a  total  of  73,000  prisoners  was  captured. 

Palestine's  delivery  from  the  Turks  was  complete.  Official 
announcement  was  made  by  the  British  War  Office  that  the  total 
casualties  from  all  sources  in  this  final  campaign  was  less  than 
4,000. 

Plans  for  the  government  of  the  people  of  Palestine  were 
announced  immediately.  Their  general  scope  was  outlined  in  an 
agreement  made  between  the  British,  French  and  Russian  govern- 
ments hi  1916.  Under  that  arrangement  Republican  France  was 
charged  with  the  preparation  of  a  scheme  of  self-government. 
The  town  of  Alexandretta  was  fixed  upon  as  a  free  port  of  entry  for 
the  new  nation. 


©  Underwood  and  Underwood,  N.  F.  *****  Official  Phot°- 

JERUSALEM   DELIVERED 

On  December  1 1 , 1917,  the  Holy  City  was  entered  by  the  Brit ish  forces  F«1!<?V"S 
the  custom  of  the  Crusaders,  General  Allenby,  commander  of  the  British  and  Allied 
forces,  made  his  entry,  with  his  staff  and  Allied  officers,  through  the  Jaffa  Gate,  on 
.  foot. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

AMERICA'S  TRANSPORTATION  PROBLEMS 

WHEN  America  entered  the  war  there  was  a  very  great 
increase  hi  the  volume  of  business  of  the  railroads  of 
the  country.  The  roads  were  already  so  crowded 
by  what  the  Allies  had  done  in  purchasing  war  supplies, 
that  a  great  deal  of  confusion  had  resulted.  The  Allies  had  expended 
more  than  three  billion  dollars  in  the  United  States,  and  as  nearly 
all  of  their  purchases  had  to  be  sent  to  a  few  definite  points  for 
shipment  to  Europe,  the  congestion  at  those  points  had  become  a 
serious  difficulty.  Thousands  of  loaded  cars  had  to  stand  for 
long  periods  awaiting  the  transfer  of  their  contents  to  ships.  This 
meant  that  thousands  of  cars  which  had  been  taken  from  lines  in 
other  parts  of  the  country  would  be  in  a  traffic  blockade  for  weeks 
at  a  time.  The  main  difficulty  appeared  to  be  that  of  getting 
trains  unloaded  promptly. 

The  declaration  of  war  by  the  United  States  made  the  situation 
very  much  worse.  Not  only  did  the  railroads  have  to  handle  the 
freight  destined  for  the  Allies,  but  there  was  a  very  large  addition 
to  the  passenger  movement  on  account  of  the  thousands  of  men 
that  were  being  sent  to  the  various  training  camps,  and  the  immense 
masses  of  supplies  that  had  to  be  sent  to  these  camps.  This 
included  not  only  the  ordinary  supplies  to  the  men  but  thousands 
of  carloads  of  lumber.  Moreover,  all  over  the  country  mills  and 
factories  were  now  being  handed  over  to  the  government  for  war 
work;  and  to  them,  too,  great  quantities  of  raw  material  had  to  be 
sent,  and  the  finished  product  removed  to  its  destination. 

A  vigorous  endeavor  to  meet  the  new  difficulties  was  instituted 
by  the  railroads  themselves.  They  themselves  named  a  war 
board,  which  was  to  co-operate  with  the  government  and  which 
was  to  have  absolute  authority.  But  this  arrangement  soon  proved 
unsatisfactory.  Each  government  official  would  do  his  best  to 
obtain  preference  for  what  his  department  required,  and  to  obtain 
that  preference  a  system  of  priority  tags  was  established  which 

513 


514  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD  WAR 

became  a  great  abuse.  The  result  was  that  priority  freight  soon 
began  to  crowd  out  the  freight  which  the  railroads  could  handle 
according  to  their  own  discretion,  thus  seriously  interfering  with 
business  all  over  the  country. 

Naturally,  the  railroad  executives  and  the  government  author- 
ities studied  the  question  with  the  greatest  care,  but  they  could 
not  reach  an  understanding  among  themselves,  nor  with  the 
Administration.  At  last  the  President  settled  the  matter  by 
announcing  his  decision  to  have  the  government  take  over  com- 
plete control  of  the  roads.  The  President  derived  his  power 
from  an  Act  of  Congress  dated  August  29,  1916,  which  reads  as 
follows: 

The  President  in  time  of  war  is  empowered,  through  the  Secretary 
of  War,  to  take  possession  and  assume  control  of  any  system  or  systems 
of  transportation,  or  any  part  thereof,  and  to  utilize  the  same  to  the 
exclusion,  as  far  as  may  be  necessary,  of  all  other  traffic  thereon,  for  the 
transfer  or  transportation  of  troops,  war  material  and  equipment,  or  for 
such  other  purposes  connected  with  the  emergency  as  may  be  needful  or 
desirable. 

The  proclamation  went  into  effect  on  December  28,  1917,  and 
the  President  declared  that  it  applied  to  "each  and  every  system 
of  transportation  and  the  appurtenances  thereof,  located,  wholly 
or  in  part,  within  the  boundaries  of  the  Continental  United  States, 
and  consisting  of  railroads  and  owned  or  controlled  systems  of 
coastwise  and  inland  transportation,  engaged  in  general  trans- 
portation, whether  operated  by  steam,  or  by  electric  power,  includ- 
ing also  terminals,  terminal  companies,  and  terminal  associations, 
sleeping  and  parlor  cars,  private  cars,  and  private  car  lines,  elevators, 
warehouses,  telegraph  and  telephone  lines,  and  all  other  equipment 
and  appurtenances  commonly  used  upon  or  operated  as  a  part  of 
such  rail  or  combined  rail  and  water  systems  of  transportation.  .  .  . 
That  the  possession,  control,  operation,  and  utilization  of  such 
transportation  systems  shall  be  exercised  by  and  through  William  G. 
McAdoo,  who  is  hereby  appointed,  and  designated  Director  General 
of  Railroads.  Said  Director  may  perform  the  duties  imposed  upon 
him  so  long  and  to  such  an  extent  as  he  shall  determine  through  the 
boards  of  directors,  receivers,  officers  and  employees,  of  said 
system  of  transportation."  President  Wilson  issued  an  explanation 
with  this  proclamation  in  which  he  said: 


TRANSPORTATION  PROBLEMS  515 

This  is  a  war  of  resources  no  less  than  of  men,  perhaps  even  more 
than  of  men,  and  it  is  necessary  for  the  complete  mobilization  of  our 
resources  that  the  transportation  systems  of  the  country  should  be  organ- 
ized and  employed  under  a  single  authority  and  to  simplify  methods 
for  coordination  which  have  not  proved  possible  under  private  manage- 
ment and  control.  A  committee  of  railway  executives  who  have  been 
co-operating  with  the  government  in  this  all-important  matter,  have 
done  the  utmost  that  it  was  possible  for  them  to  do,  but  there  were  differ- 
ences that  they  could  neither  escape  nor  neutralize.  Complete  unity  of 
administration  in  the  present  circumstances  involves  upon  occasion,  and 
at  many  points,  a  serious  dislocation  of  earnings,  and  the  committee  was, 
of  course,  without  power  or  authority  to  rearrange  charges  or  effect  proper 
compensations  hi  adjustments  of  earnings.  Several  roads  which  were 
willingly  and  with  admirable  public  spirit  accepting  the  orders  of  the 
committee,  have  already  suffered  from  these  circumstances,  and  should 
not  be  required  to  suffer  further.  In  mere  fairness  to  them,  the  full 
authority  of  the  government  must  be  substituted.  The  public  interest 
must  be  first  served,  and  in  addition  the  financial  interests  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  financial  interests  of  the  railways,  must  be  brought  under  a 
common  direction.  The  financial  operations  of  the  railway  need  not, 
then,  interfere  with  the  borrowings  of  the  government,  and  they  them- 
selves can  be  conducted  at  a  great  advantage.  Investors  in  railway 
securities  may  rest  assured  that  their  rights  and  interests  will  be  as 
scrupulously  looked  after  by  the  government  as  they  could  be  by  the 
directors  of  the  several  railway  systems.  Immediately  upon  the  reassem- 
bling of  Congress  I  shall  recommend  that  these  different  guarantees  be 
given.  The  Secretary  of  War  and  I  are  agreed  that,  all  the  circumstances 
being  taken  into  consideration,  the  best  results  can  be  obtained  under 
the  immediate  executive  direction  of  the  Honorable  William  G.  McAdoo, 
whose  practical  experience  peculiarly  fits  him  for  the  service,  and  whose 
authority  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  enable  him  to  coordinate,  as 
no  other  man  could,  the  many  financial  interests  which  will  be  involved, 
and  which  might,  unless  systematically  directed,  suffer  very  embarrassing 
entanglements. 

President  Wilson's  proclamation  stirred  up  great  excitement 
on  the  stock  market.  Speculators  rushed  to  buy  back  railroad 
stocks  which  they  had  previously  sold  short,  and  the  market  value 
of  such  stocks  was  raised  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  million 
dollars  as  a  result.  The  Federal  Government's  assumption  of 
control  of  the  railroads  was  generally  recognized  as  the  proper  act 
under  existing  circumstances,  and  the  guarantee  of  pre-war  earnings 
made  them  a  good  investment. 

The  railroad  system  in  the  United  States  consists  of  260,000 
miles  of  railroad,  owned  by  441  distinct  corporations,  with  about 


516  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

650,000  shareholders.  It  employs  1,600,000  men  and  represents  a 
property  investment  of  $17,500,000,000.  The  outstanding  capital 
in  round  numbers  is  $16,000,000,000,  $9,000,000,000  of  which  is 
represented  by  a  funded  debt.  The  rolling  stock  comprises  61,000 
locomotives,  2,250,000  freight  cars,  52,000  passenger  cars  and 
95,000  service  cars.  All  this  was  now  under  the  charge  of  William  G. 
McAdoo.  On  January  4,  1918,  President  Wilson  explained  his 
plan  to  Congress,  and  recommended  legislation  to  put  the  new 
system  of  control  into  effect,  and  to  guarantee  to  the  holders  of 
railroad  stocks  and  bonds  a  net  annual  income  equal  to  the  average 
net  income  for  the  three  years  ending  June  30,  1917. 

The  wise  recommendations  of  President  Wilson  were  at  once 
approved  by  Congress;  provision  was  made  for  guaranteeing  the 
railroads  the  income  which  he  recommended,  and  for  financing  the 
roads.  The  railroads'  war  board  was  abolished  and  Mr.  McAdoo 
appointed  an  advisory  board  to  assist  him.  This  board  consisted 
of  John  Skelton  Williams,  Controller  of  the  Currency;  Hale  Holden, 
President  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad;  Henry 
Walters,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Atlantic  Coast 
Line;  Edward  Chambers,  Vice-President  of  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad 
and  head  of  the  transportation  division  of  the  United  States  Food 
Administration;  Walter  D.  Hines,  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Santa  Fe*.  Specific  duties  were  assigned  to  the 
various  members  of  this  committee.  Mr.  Williams  was  to  deal 
with  the  financial  problem;  Mr.  Holden  to  assume  direction  of 
committees  and  sub-committees,  and  other  phases  of  the  work 
were  allotted  to  other  members.  Mr.  Walter  D.  Hines  was  made 
assistant  to  the  Director  General. 

Mr.  McAdoo's  first  order  was  to  pool  all  terminals,  ports, 
locomotives,  rolling  stock  and  other  transportation  facilities. 
Another  order  had  as  its  object  to  end  the  congestion  of  traffic  in 
New  York  City  and  Chicago.  It  gave  all  lines  entering  these 
centers  equal  rights  in  trackage  and  water  terminal  facilities.  This 
wiped  out  the  identity  of  the  great  Pennsylvania  Terminal  Station 
in  New  York,  and  gave  all  railroads  the  use  of  the  Pennsylvania 
tubes  under  the  Hudson  River. 

The  effect  of  government  control  of  the  railroads  was  felt 
from  the  very  first.  Coal  was  given  the  right  of  way,  giving  great 
relief  to  such  sections  as  were  suffering  from  fuel  shortage.  Many 


TRANSPORTATION  PROBLEMS  517 

passenger  trains  were  taken  off,  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty 
of  such  trains  being  dropped  from  the  schedules  of  the  eastern 
roads.  This  permitted  a  great  increase  in  the  freight  traffic. 
Orders  were  also  given  that  all  empty  box  cars  were  to  be  sent  to 
wheat-producing  centers,  so  that  wheat  could  be  moved  to  the 
Atlantic  sea  coasts  for  shipment  to  England  and  France.  These 
orders  preceded  the  adoption  of  the  railroad  control  bill,  which  was 
not  passed  by  Congress  until  March  14th.  A  feature  of  the  bill  is 
the  proviso  that  government  control  of  the  railroads  shall  not 
continue  more  than  twenty-one  months  after  the  war.  After  the 
passing  of  the  bill  plans  were  made  to  make  contracts  with  each 
railroad  company  for  government  compensation  on  the  basis 
provided  in  the  bill. 

The  action  of  the  government  in  thus  assuming  control  of  the 
railroads  very  naturally  led  to  wide  differences  of  opinion,  some  of 
which  were  sharply  expressed  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
On  the  whole,  however,  public  opinion  decided  that  the  government 
acted  wisely.  Certain  inconveniences  to  the  traveling  public  were 
easily  excused  when  it  was  realized  that  the  movement  of  troops 
throughout  the  country  to  the  camps,  or  from  the  camps  to  the 
ports  which  were  to  take  them  across  the  sea,  from  "Texas  to 
Toul,"  was  being  accomplished  with  great  success;  that  the  move- 
ment of  war  material  was  now  possible,  and  that  the  gigantic  rail- 
road system  was  working  without  a  hitch. 

Many  details,  in  connection  with  the  railroad  management, 
were  not  at  once  worked  out,  and  many  months  passed  without 
complete  agreements  regarding  the  railway  operating  contracts. 
But  this  was  a  matter  of  greater  interest  to  the  owners  than  it  was 
to  patriotic  citizens,  anxious  for  the  winning  of  the  war.  Govern- 
mental control  of  the  railroads,  was  only  a  beginning.  On 
July  16th  President  Wilson  took  control,  for  the  period  of  the  war, 
of  all  telegraph,  telephone,  cable  and  radio  lines,  signing  a  bill  on 
that  day  passed  by  Congress  authorizing  such  action. 

The  transportation  of  the  American  army  across  the  ocean 
was  the  greatest  military  feat  of  its  kind  ever  accomplished  in 
history.  The  transportation  of  English  troops  during  the  Boer  War 
meant  a  longer  journey,  but  the  number  of  troops  sent  on  that 
journey  was  but  a  small  fraction  of  America's  army. 

The  railroads  in  existence  were  not  sufficient.     The  ships  that 


518  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

were  necessary  could  not  be  found  in  America's  navy.  It  was 
necessary  to  build  new  roads,  new  docks,  new  terminals,  new  bases 
of  supplies  in  America,  and  to  send  abroad  thousands  of  trained 
workmen  and  experienced  railroad  engineers  to  build  similar  necessi- 
ties in  France.  To  convey  the  millions  of  men  across  the  water 
England  had  to  come  to  the  rescue,  and  though  hundreds  of 
American  ships  were  built  with  a  speed  that  was  almost  miraculous, 
they  were  in  constant  need  of  the  assistance  of  the  Allies.  But 
wonderful  men  were  put  in  charge  of  the  work,  wonderful  organizers 
with  wonderful  assistants,  and  the  great  task  was  accomplished. 

As  soon  as  the  army  was  trained  it  was  sent  across — first  by 
thousands,  then  by  tens  of  thousands,  then  by  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands, until  before  the  war  was  over  more  than  two  million  men  had 
made  the  great  trip  "over  there."  And  throughout  that  whole  trip 
they  were  watched  over  as  carefully  as  if  they  were  at  home.  Every 
want  was  supplied;  food,  clothing,  munitions  were  all  where  they 
were  needed.  Even  their  leisure  hours  were  looked  after,  their 
health  attended  to.  Books,  games,  theaters,  classes  for  those  who 
cared  to  study,  all  were  there. 

It  was  a  wonderful  performance,  and  the  whole  movement  was 
conducted  with  clock-like  precision.  On  such  a  day  at  such  an 
hour  the  trained  soldier  would  start.  At  such  an  hour  he  would 
report  in  some  Atlantic  port.  At  such  an  hour  and  such  a  minute 
he  would  board  ship,  and  with  equal  precision  that  ship  would  sail 
upon  the  appointed  moment.  Perhaps  on  the  journey  over  some 
submarine  might  delay  the  ship,  but  the  destroyers  were  there  on 
the  alert,  and  the  submarine  was  but  an  amusing  episode.  On  the 
other  side  the  process  was  carried  on  with  equal  efficiency.  Before 
the  American  doughboy  could  realize  that  he  was  in  France  he  was  in 
his  quarters,  just  like  home,  in  the  base  camps  behind  the  fighting 
line,  and  it  was  this  miracle  of  transportation  that  won  the  war. 

A  study  of  transportation  construction  in  other  countries 
showed  that  actual  construction  of  railroads  had  been  suspended 
in  some  cases,  and  in  others  retarded,  but  in  not  a  few  instances 
hastened  by  the  war.  Brazil  experienced  a  more  nearly  complete 
suspension  of  railroad  building  than  any  of  the  other  countries, 
but  preparation  was  made  for  prompt  resumption  of  construction, 
with  the  return  of  more  normal  conditions. 

The  Chinese  building  program  also  had  been  affected  unf avor- 


TRANSPORTATION  PROBLEMS  519 

ably  by  the  war.  Nevertheless,  there  were  important  additions 
made,  aggregating  approximately  800  miles  during  the  war.  Of 
the  lines  completed  in  1917,  two  are  of  especial  significance.  One 
of  these,  a  140-mile  section  of  the  Canton-Hankow  line,  a  link  hi 
the  route  between  South  China  and  Peking.  The  other  is  a  60-mile 
feeder  of  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway  in  Manchuria.  A  line  was 
extended  from  South  Manchuria  into  Mongolia,  the  first  railroad  to 
penetrate  this  territory.  Financial  arrangements  were  made  for 
the  early  construction  of  a  line  across  Southern  Manchuria  and  for 
another  connecting  the  Peking-Hankow  and  Tientsin-Pukow  lines. 

Construction  in  Siberia  proceeded  rapidly.  The  completion, 
in  1915,  of  the  Amur  River  division  of  the  Trans-Siberian  in  the 
east,  together  with  the  extension  hi  1913  of  the  Ekaterinburg- 
Tiumen  line  to  Omsk  hi  the  west,  gave  virtually  a  double  track 
from  European  Russia  to  Vladivostok. 

The  notable  achievement  in  Africa  was  the  continuation  of  the 
southern  rail  link  in  the  Cape-to-Cairo  route.  This  line  was  com' 
pleted  to  Bukama  on  the  navigable  Congo,  2,600  miles  from  Cape- 
town. The  railway  in  German  East  Africa,  was  extended  to  Lake 
Tanganyika  on  the  eve  of  the  war,  making  a  rail-water  line  across  the 
center  of  the  continent.  The  railroad  from  Lobito  Bay  was  extended 
eastward  to  Katanga,  a  rich  mineral  region  of  the  Belgian  Congo, 
and,  with  the  road  already  reaching  the  Indian  Ocean  at  Beira, 
gave  a  second  east  and  west  transcontinental  line.  A  permanent 
standard  gauge  railroad  was  laid  by  the  British  Expeditionary 
Forces  from  Egypt  into  Palestine. 

Despite  the  magnitude  of  the  Australian  contribution  to  the 
Allied  military  and  naval  forces,  the  east  and  west  transcontinental 
railway,  begun  in  1912,  was  completed  hi  1917.  In  all,  more  than 
3,500  miles  of  track  were  built  hi  the  commonwealth  hi  the  years 
1915-17. 

In  Canada,  the  work  of  providing  two  transcontinental 
railroads  was  completed;  feeders  were  added,  and  a  line  from  La  Pas 
to  Hudson  Bay  was  under  construction.  From  1912  to  1916  more 
than  10,000  miles  of  track  were  put  in  operation,  nearly  7,000  of 
which  were  added  in  the  first  two  years  of  the  war. 


CHAPTER  XL 

SHIPS  AND  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THEM. 

WHEN  the  United  States  of  America  entered  the  World 
War  she  was  confronted  at  once  by  a  serious  question. 
The  great  Allied  nations  were  struggling  against  the 
attempt  of  the  Germans,  through  the  piratical  use  of 
submarines,  to  blockade  the  coast  of  the  Allied  countries.  It  was 
this  German  action  which  had  led  America  to  take  part  in  the  war. 
It  is  true  that  America  had  other  motives.  Few  wars  ever  take 
place  among  democratic  nations  as  a  result  of  the  calculation  of  the 
nation's  leaders.  The  people  must  be  interested,  and  the  people 
must  sympathize  with  the  cause  for  which  they  are  going  to  fight. 
The  people  of  America  had  sympathized  with  Belgium,  and  had 
become  indignant  at  the  brutal  treatment  of  that  inoffensive  nation. 
They  had  sympathized  with  France  in  its  gallant  endeavor  to 
protect  its  soil  from  the  inroads  of  the  Hun.  This  feeling  had 
become  a  personal  one  as  they  reviewed  the  lists  of  Americans  lost 
in  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania,  and  this  sympathy  had  gradually 
grown  into  indignation  when  the  Germans,  after  having  promised 
to  conduct  submarine  warfare  according  to  international  law,  again 
and  again  violated  that  promise.  When,  then,  the  Germans  declared 
that  they  would  no  longer  even  pretend  to  treat  neutral  shipping 
according  to  the  laws  of  maritime  warfare  the  people  with  one  accord 
approved  the  action  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  in 
declaring  war.  The  Germans  at  this  tune  were  making  a  desperate 
effort  to  starve  England,  by  destroying  its  commerce,  and  it  was  in 
the  endeavor  to  accomplish  this  purpose  that  they  thought  it 
necessary  to  attack  American  ships. 

The  first  effort  of  Americans,  therefore,  was  naturally  to  use 
every  power  of  the  navy  to  destroy  the  lurking  submarines,  and  in 
the  second  place  to  use  every  means  in  then*  power  to  supply  the 
Allies  with  food.  But  America  had  for  many  years  neglected  to 
give  encouragement  to  her  merchant  fleets.  Her  commerce  was 
very  largely  carried  in  foreign  bottoms. 

520 


SHIPS  AND  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THEM    521 

Ships  were  needed,  and  needed  urgently,  and  one  of  the  very 
first  acts  of  the  American  Government  was  to  authorize  their  pro- 
duction. Congress  therefore  appropriated  for  this  purpose  what 
was  then  the  extraordinary  sum  of  $1,135,000,000  and  General 
Goethals,  recently  returned  from  his  work  in  building  the  Panama 
Canal,  was  appointed  manager  of  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation 
and  entrusted  with  the  execution  of  the  government's  ship-building 
program. 

The  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation,  however,  was  then  inde- 
pendent of  the  United  States  Shipping  Board,  of  which  Mr.  William 
Denman  was  made  chairman,  and  friction  between  General  Goethals 
and  Mr.  Denman  at  the  very  start  caused  long  delay.  The  difference 
of  opinion  between  them  arose  over  the  comparative  merits  of 
wooden  and  steel  ships.  The  matter  was  finally  laid  before  President 
Wilson  and  ended  in  the  resignation  of  both  men  and  the  complete 
reorganization  of  the  board  and  the  Fleet  Corporation,  hi  which 
reorganization  the  Fleet  Corporation  was  made  subordinate  to  the 
Shipping  Board  but  given  entire  control  of  construction. 

Rear-Admiral  Capps  succeeded  General  Goethals,  but  was 
compelled  to  resign  on  account  of  ill  health.  Rear-Admiral  Harris, 
who  had  been  chief  of  the  Navy's  Bureau  of  Yards  and  Docks, 
then  had  the  job  for  two  weeks,  but  resigned  because  in  his  opinion 
he  had  not  enough  authority.  Then  came  Mr.  Charles  Piez,  who 
held  the  position  for  a  longer  period.  Mr.  Edward  N.  Hurley  had 
been  made  chairman  of  the  United  States  Shipping  Board,  and 
under  the  direction  of  these  two  men  much  progress  was  made. 

In  the  spring  of  1918  the  boards  themselves  were  not  satisfied 
with  their  progress,  and  on  April  16,  1918,  Mr.  Charles  M.  Schwab, 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Corpora- 
tion, was  made  Director  General  of  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corpora- 
tion. Mr.  Schwab  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  business  men  in 
the  United  States  and  one  of  the  best  known,  and  his  appointment 
was  received  all  over  the  country  with  the  greatest  satisfaction. 
His  wonderful  work  in  building  up  the  Bethlehem  steel  plant  not 
only  showed  his  great  ability,  but  especially  fitted  him  for  a  task 
in  which  the  steel  industry  bore  such  a  vital  part.  The  official 
statement  issued  from  the  White  House  read  as  follows: 

Edward  N.  Hurley,  Charles  M.  Schwab,  Bainbridge  Colby  and  Charles 
Piez  were  received  by  the  President  at  the  White  House  today.  It  was 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

stated  that  the  subject  discussed  was  the  progress  and  condition  of  a 
national  ship-building  program.  The  carrying  forward  of  the  construction 
work  in  the  one  hundred  and  thirty  shipyards  now  in  operation  is  so  vast 
that  it  requires  a  reinforcement  of  the  ship-building  organization  through- 
out the  country.  Later  in  the  day  Chairman  Hurley  of  the  Shipping 
Board  announced  that  a  new  office  with  wide  powers  had  been  created 
by  the  Trustees  of  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation.  The  new  position 
is  that  of  Director  General  and  Mr.  Schwab  has  been  asked,  and  has 
agreed,  to  accept  this  position  in  answer  to  the  call  of  the  nation.  Charles 
Piez,  Vice-President  of  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation,  recommended 
that  the  post  of  General  Manager  of  the  corporation  be  at  once  abolished, 
so  that  Mr.  Schwab  as  Director  General  should  be  wholly  unhampered  hi 
carrying  on  the  large  task  entrusted  to  him.  Mr.  Piez,  since  the  retirement 
of  Admiral  Harris,  has  been  filling  both  the  position  of  Vice-President  and 
that  of  General  Manager.  Mr.  Schwab  will  have  complete  supervision 
and  direction  of  the  work  of  ship-building.  He  agreed  to  take  up  the  work 
at  the  sacrifice  of  his  personal  wishes  in  the  matter.  His  services  were 
virtually  commandeered.  His  great  experience  as  a  steel  maker  and 
builder  of  ships  has  been  drafted  for  the  nation. 

Although  the  fact  that  production  during  the  month  of  March 
had  not  been  as  great  as  had  been  hoped  probably  brought  about 
this  change,  it  should  also  be  said  that  those  who  had  been  respon- 
sible deserved  much  credit  for  what  had  actually  been  done.  They 
had  been  handicapped  constantly  by  poor  transportation  and 
shortage  of  materials,  but  had  worked  faithfully  and  with  what 
under  ordinary  circumstances  would  be  regarded  as  remarkable 
success.  The  call  upon  Mr.  Schwab  was  simply  an  effort  to  draft 
into  the  service  of  the  country  its  very  highest  executive  ability. 
Mr.  Schwab's  name  had  been  mentioned  before  for  more  than  one 
government  post,  and  it  was  thought  that  here  was  the  place 
where  his  talents  could  have  the  fullest  play.  It  was  stated  in 
Washington  that  he  would  receive  a  salary  of  one  dollar  a  year. 

Mr.  Schwab  at  once  proceeded  to  "speed  up"  the  shipping 
program.  It  took  him  just  one  day  to  arrange  his  own  business 
affairs  and  then  he  began  his  work.  His  first  day  was  spent  hi 
going  over  the  details  of  his  task  with  Chairman  Hurley  and  Mr. 
Piez.  He  then  received  newspaper  men,  beginnmg  the  campaign 
of  publicity  which  turned  out  to  be  so  successful.  He  was  full  of 
compliments  for  the  work  which  had  already  been  done.  "It  is 
prodigious,  splendid,  magnificent!"  he  said.  "It  is  far  greater  than 
any  man  who  hasn't  seen  the  inside  of  things  can  appreciate.  The 


SHIPS  AND  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THEM    523 

foundation  is  laid.  That  task  is  well  done.  We  are  going  to  get 
the  results  which  are  needed  and  I  should  be  proud  if  I  could  have 
any  part  hi  the  accomplishment.  All  I  can  say  for  myself  is  that 
I  am  filled  with  enthusiasm,  energy  and  confidence.  Mr.  Hurley 
and  I  are  in  full  accord  on  everything,  and  we  are  going  to  work 
shoulder  to  shoulder  to  make  the  work  a  success,  but  the  large 
burden  must  fall  upon  the  people  at  the  yards,  and  they  are  entitled 
to  any  credit  for  success.  I  do  not  want  to  have  any  man  hi  the 
shipyards  working  for  me.  I  want  them  all  working  with  me. 
Nothing  is  going  to  be  worth  while  unless  we  win  this  war,  and 
every  one  must  do  the  task  to  which  he  is  called." 

One  of  the  first  steps  that  Mr.  Schwab  took  to  speed  up  ship 
production  was  to  establish  his  headquarters  in  Philadelphia,  as  the 
center  of  the  ship-building  region.  Chairman  Hurley  remained  at 
Washington,  and  the  operating  department,  which  included  agencies 
such  as  the  Inter-Allied  Ship  Control  Committee,  was  removed  to 
New  York  City.  It  was  stated  that  nearly  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
work  in  progress  was  within  a  short  radius  of  Philadelphia. 

The  year  before  the  war  the  total  output  of  the  United  States 
shipyards  was  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  tons.  The 
program  of  the  shipping  board  contemplated  the  construction  of 
one  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-five  steel  ships,  with  a  tonnage 
of  eight  million  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  thousand  five  hundred 
and  eight,  and  four  hundred  and  ninety  wooden  ships,  with  a 
tonnage  of  one  million  seven  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand.  These 
of  course  could  not  be  built  in  the  shipyards  then  in  existence. 
New  shipyards  had  to  be  built  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 

In  the  first  year  after  the  shipping  board  took  control,  one 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  ships  were  put  in  the  water  and  through 
requisition  and  by  building,  one  hundred  and  three  more  were 
added  to  the  American  merchant  fleet.  By  April,  1918,  the  govern- 
ment had  at  its  service  2,762,605  tons  of  shipping.  During  the 
month  of  May,  the  first  month  after  Mr.  Schwab  began  his  work, 
the  record  of  production  had  mounted  from  160,286  tons  to  263,571. 
American  shipyards  had  completed  and  delivered  during  that 
month  forty-three  steel  ships  and  one  wooden  ship.  Mr.  Hurley, 
in  an  address  on  June  10th,  said: 

On  June  1st,  we  had  increased  the  American  built  tonnage  to  over 
3,500,000  dead-weight  tons  of  shipping.  This  gives  us  a  total  of  more 


524 

than  one  thousand  four  hundred  ships  with  an  approximate  total  dead- 
weight tonnage  of  7,000,000  now  under  the  control  of  the  United  States 
Shipping  Board.  In  round  numbers  and  from,  all  sources  we  have  added 
to  the  American  flag  since  our  war  against  Germany  began,  nearly  4,500,000 
tons  of  shipping.  Our  program  calls  for  the  building  of  1,856  passenger, 
cargo  and  refrigerator  ships  and  tankers,  ranging  from  five  thousand  to 
twelve  thousand  tons  each,  with  an  aggregate  dead-weight  of  thirteen 
million.  Exclusive  of  these  we  have  two  hundred  and  forty-five  com- 
mandeered vessels,  taken  over  from  foreign  and  domestic  owners  which 
are  being  completed  by  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation.  These  will 
aggregate  a  total  dead-wight  tonnage  of  1,715,000.  This  makes  a  total  of 
two  thousand  one  hundred  and  one  vessels,  exclusive  of  tugs  and  barges 
which  are  being  built  and  will  be  put  on  the  seas  in  the  course  of  carrying 
out  the  present  program,  with  an  aggregate  dead-weight  tonnage  of 
14,715,000.  Five  billion  dollars  will  be  required  to  finish  our  program,  but 
the  expenditure  of  this  enormous  sum  will  give  to  the  American  people  the 
greatest  merchant  fleet  ever  assembled  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
American  workmen  have  made  the  expansion  of  recent  months  possible, 
and  they  will  make  possible  the  successful  conclusion  of  the  whole  program. 

In  the  wonderful  work  that  followed  his  appointment  Mr. 
Schwab  constantly  came  before  the  public,  mainly  through  his 
addresses  to  the  working  men  of  the  different  yards.  His  main 
endeavor  was  to  stimulate  enthusiasm  and  rivalry  among  the  men. 
A  ten-thousand-dollar  prize  was  offered  to  the  yard  producing  the 
largest  surplus  above  its  program,  and  he  traveled  throughout  the 
country  urging  the  employees  at  all  the  great  yards  to  break  their 
records.  The  result  of  his  work  was  that  it  was  not  long  before  it 
was  announced  that  the  monthly  tonnage  of  ships  completed  by  the 
Allies  exceeded  the  tonnage  of  those  sunk  by  the  German  submarine. 
The  menace  of  the  submarine,  which  had  seemed  so  formidable, 
had  disappeared. 

The  most  important  of  the  great  shipyards  which  were  pro- 
ducing the  American  cargo  ships  was  at  Hog  Island  in  the  southwest 
part  of  Philadelphia.  This  shipyard  may  indeed  be  called  the 
greatest  shipyard  in  the  world.  Before  Mr.  Schwab  became 
Director  General  much  criticism  had  been  launched  at  the  work 
that  was  going  on  there,  and  an  investigation  had  been  made  which 
resulted  in  a  favorable  report.  On  August  5th  the  new  shipyard 
launched  its  first  ship,  the  7,500  ton  freight  steamer,  Quistconck, 
in  the  presence  of  a  distinguished  throng  among  whom  were  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  Mrs.  Woodrow  Wilson.  The 


SHIPS  AND  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THEM    525 

ship  was  christened  by  Mrs.  Wilson,  and  the  President  swung  his 
hat  and  led  the  cheers  as  the  great  ship  glided  down  the  ways. 
The  name  "Quistconck"  is  the  ancient  Indian  name  of  Hog  Island. 
The  crowd  numbered  more  than  sixty  thousand  people,  and  special 
trams  from  Washington  and  New  York  brought  many  notable 
guests.  President  and  Mrs.  Wilson  were  escorted  by  Mr.  Hurley 
and  Mr.  Schwab,  and  apparently  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  occasion. 
An  enormous  bouquet  was  presented  to  Mrs.  Wilson  by  Foreman 
McMillan,  who  had  driven  the  first  rivet  in  the  Quistconck's  keel. 

Shortly  after  the  armistice  it  was  announced  that  the  Hog 
Island  plant  would  be  acquired  by  the  United  States  Government. 
The  real  estate,  valued  at  $1,760,000,  was  owned  by  the  American 
International  Ship  Building  Company,  and  the  government  had 
invested  about  $60,000,000  in  equipping  the  plant.  At  the  time 
the  war  ended  thirty-five  thousand  persons  were  at  work  and  a 
hundred  and  eighty  ships  were  in  various  stages  of  completion. 

An  interesting  feature  in  connection  with  the  endeavor  to 
" speed  up"  was  the  competition  in  riveting.  Early  in  the  year 
hi  yard  after  yard  expert  riveters  were  reported  as  making  extraor- 
dinary records,  and  prizes  were  offered  to  the  winners  of  such 
records'.  Later,  however,  such  contests  were  discouraged  by 
Chairman  Hurley  and  by  others.  The  best  record  was  made  by 
John  Omir,  who  drove  twelve  thousand  two  hundred  and  nine 
rivets  in  nine  hours  at  the  Belfast  Yards  of  Workman  and  Clark. 
In  the  accomplishment  of  this  feat  on  two  occasions  he  passed  the 
mark  of  one  thousand  four  hundred  rivets  an  hour.  In  his  best 
minute  he  drove  twenty-six  rivets. 

The  ships  constructed  by  the  Shipping  Board  were  of  steel,  of 
wood  and  of  concrete,  and  at  times  considerable  difference  of 
opinion  existed  with  regard  to  which  form  of  ship  should  receive 
the  most  attention.  The  policy  of  the  government  seemed  finally 
to  favor  the  steel  as  it  was  claimed  that  the  wooden  type  was  not 
only  more  expensive,  but  that  it  was  less  efficient.  However  until 
the  very  end  wooden  ships  in  great  numbers  were  being  built. 

On  May  31st  the  steamship  Agawam,  described  as  the  first 
fabricated  ship  in  the  world,  was  launched  in  the  yards  of  the 
Submarine  Boat  Corporation  at  Newark.  This  was  essentially  a 
standardized  steel  cargo  ship.  "Fabricated"  is  the  technical  term 
applied  to  ships  built  from  numbered  shapes  made  fromjjiatteriis. 


526  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD  WAR 

President  Carse,  of  the  Submarine  Boat  Corporation,  said  that 
the  Agawam  was  the  first  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  vessels  of  that 
type  which  would  be  constructed  in  the  yard.  The  parts  were  made, 
he  said,  in  bridge  and  tank  shops  throughout  the  country  and  were 
assembled  at  the  yard.  "Ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  work  in 
forming  the  parts  entering  into  the  hull  of  this  vessel,  and  punching 
rivet  holes,  is  done  at  shops  widely  separated,  from  drawings  fur- 
nished by  this  company,  and  these  drawings  have  been  of  such  exac- 
titude, and  the  work  has  been  so  carefully  performed  by  the  different 
bridge  shops  that  when  they  are  brought  together  at  this  yard  they 
fit  perfectly  and  the  ship  as  you  see  is  absolutely  fair.  The  con- 
struction of  the  hull  of  this  vessel  requires  the  driving  of  over  four 
hundred  thousand  rivets,  and  by  our  method  more  then  one  quarter 
of  these  rivets  are  driven  at  the  distant  shops,  the  different  parts 
being  brought  to  the  yard  in  sections  as  large  as  can  be  transported 
on  the  railroad.  Each  part  is  numbered  and  lettered  and  as  they 
are  shaped  perfectly  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  place  them  in  position, 
bolt  them,  and  finally  fasten  them  with  rivets." 

Officials  of  the  company  said  that  they  expected  to  launch  in 
the  course  of  time  two  such  vessels  hi  each  week.  A  standard  ship 
of  this  type  has  a  dead-weight  carrying  capacity  of  five  thousand 
five  hundred  tons.  It  is  three  hundred  and  forty-three  feet  long 
and  forty-six  feet  wide  and  is  expected  to  show  an  average  speed 
of  ten  and  a  half  knots.  Fuel  oil  is  used  to  generate  steam,  to  drive 
a  turbine  operating  three  thousand  six  hundred  revolutions  a 
minute.  The  oil  is  carried  in  compartments  of  the  double  bottom 
of  the  ship  in  sufficient  quantity  for  more  than  a  round  trip  to 
Europe.  Twenty-seven  steel  mills,  fifty-six  fabricating  plants, 
and  two  hundred  foundries  and  equipment  shops  were  drawn  upon 
to  construct  the  ship. 

In  addition  to  the  steel  and  wood  vessels  the  Emergency  Fleet 
Corporation  also  constructed  a  number  of  concrete  ships.  The 
first  step  in  this  direction  was  taken  on  April  3d,  when  the  con- 
struction of  four  7,500-ton  concrete  ships  at  a  Pacific  coast  shipyard 
was  authorized.  This  action  was  taken  as  a  result  of  a  report  on 
the  trials  made  with  the  concrete  ship,  Faith,  which  was  built  in 
San  Francisco  by  private  capital.  The  test  of  this  ship  had  been 
satisfactory  and  Mr.  R.  J.  Wig,  an  agent  of  the  Emergency  Fleet 
Corporation,  who  had  made  a  careful  inspection  of  the  Faith  and 


SHIPS  AND  THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  THEM    527 

watched  the  tests,  reported  his  confidence  hi  the  new  cargo  carrier. 
The  successful  trial  trip  of  the  Faith  led,  on  the  17th  of  May,  to  the 
government  order  that  fifty-eight  more  such  ships  be  constructed. 
Sites  for  yards  were  leased  and  contracts  awarded.  The  concrete 
ship  turned  out  to  be  a  great  success. 

The  extraordinary  success  of  the  American  ship-building  pro- 
gram during  the  World  War  was  due  to  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
workmen  employed  at  the  government  plants,  and  that  same 
enthusiasm  was  found  hi  connection  with  then*  work  in  every 
industry  on  which  the  Government  made  demands.  American 
labor  was  thoroughly  loyal.  It  recognized  that  hi  the  war  for 
democracy  against  autocracy  it  had  a  vital  concern.  The  attitude 
of  the  great  American  labor  unions  must  however  be  sharply 
distinguished  from  that  of  the  extreme  socialists  who  refused  to 
take  any  part  hi  helping  to  win  the  war. 

From  the  very  beginning,  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
took  a  patriotic  stand.  Its  leader  was  Mr.  Samuel  Gompers,  and 
it  was  fortunate  for  America  that  the  leadership  of  this  great 
organization  was  hi  such  patriotic  hands.  Mr.  Gompers  had  been 
for  many  years  president  of  this  great  labor  organization,  and  was 
so  often  called  in  consultation  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
in  connection  with  labor  affairs  that  he  might  almost  be  called  an 
unofficial  member  of  the  President's  cabinet.  Mr.  Gompers  was 
by  birth  an  Englishman,  but  he  had  left  his  home  when  still  a  boy 
and  was  thoroughly  filled  with  true  American  patriotism.  From  the 
beginning  he  devoted  himself  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm  not  only 
to  the  protection  of  the  interests  of  which  he  was  in  charge,  but  to 
the  prosecution  of  a  successful  war.  He  had  to  contend,  as  labor 
leaders  in  other  countries  had  been  compelled  to  contend,  with 
socialistic  and  anarchistic  organizations. 

During  the  period  of  America's  participation  in  the  war  there 
were  certain  disturbances  caused  by  the  I.  W.  W.,  but  from  such 
movements  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  held  itself  aloof. 
Occasional  strikes,  on  account  of  special  conditions,  were  easily 
settled.  The  governmental  assumption  of  control  over  railroads 
and  other  essential  industries  had  much  to  do  with  the  peaceful 
attitude  of  the  workmen.  The  very  high  wages  which  were  offered 
to  the  workmen  at  munitions  works,  ship-building  plants  and  other 
governmental  enterprises  enabled  the  workmen  there  to  live  in 


528  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

reasonable  comfort,  though  it  caused  a  great  deal  of  trouble  in 
private  industry,  and  compelled  an  increase  in  pay  to  labor  all  over 
the  land. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  war  Mr.  Gompers  traveled  abroad,  as  a 
representative  of  American  labor,  and  was  greeted  everywhere  with 
the  utmost  enthusiasm,  while  his  influence  was  strongly  felt  in 
favor  of  moderate  and  sane  views  as  to  labor's  rights. 

The  American  situation  with  regard  to  labor  was  made  much 
simpler  by  the  organization  of  the  United  States  Employment 
Service.  This  was  made  an  arm  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  with 
branch  offices  in  nearly  all  the  large  cities  of  every  state.  It  had  a 
large  corps  of  traveling  examiners,  men  skilled  in  determining  the 
fitness  of  workers  for  particular  jobs,  and  it  undertook  to  recruit 
labor  for  the  various  war  industries  in  which  they  were  needed. 
During  the  last  year  of  the  war  from  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
to  two  hundred  thousand  workers  of  all  kinds  were  given  work  each 
month.  In  addition  to  this  the  Employment  Service  was  a  clearing 
house  of  information  for  manufacturers.  The  Director  General  of 
this  service  was  Mr.  John  B.  Densmore. 

Labor  throughout  the  country,  except  when  influenced  by  men 
of  foreign  birth  who  were  not  in  touch  with  the  spirit  of  America, 
was  universally  loyal,  and  its  share  in  the  winning  of  the  war  will 
always  remain  a  matter  for  pride. 


CHAPTER  XLI 
GERMANY'S  DYING  DESPERATE  EFFORT 

IN  THE  spring  of  1918  it  must  have  been  plain  to  the  German 
High  Command  that  if  the  war  was  to  be  won  it  must  be  won 
at  once.  In  spite  of  all  their  leaders  said  of  the  impossibility 

of  bringing  an  American  army  to  France  they  must  have  been 
well  informed  of  what  the  Americans  were  doing.  They  knew  that 
there  were  already  more  than  two  million  men  in  active  training  hi 
the  American  army,  and  while  at  that  time  only  a  small  proportion 
of  them  were  available  on  the  battle  front,  yet  every  day  that  pro- 
portion was  growing  greater  and  by  the  middle  of  the  summer  the 
little  American  army  would  have  become  a  tremendous  fighting 
force. 

Then*  own  armies  on  their  western  front  had  been  enormously 
increased  in  size  by  the  removal  to  that  front  of  troops  from  Russia. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  their  best  regiments  were  now  withdrawn 
from  the  east  and  incorporated  under  the  command  of  their  great 
Generals,  Hindenburg  and  Ludendorf,  in  the  armies  of  the  west. 
They  must,  therefore,  take  advantage  of  this  increased  force  and 
win  the  war  before  the  Americans  could  come. 

The  problem  of  the  Allies  was  also  simple.  It  was  not  nec- 
essary for  them  to  plan  a  great  offensive.  All  they  had  to  do  was 
to  hold  out  until,  through  the  American  aid  which  was  coming  now 
in  such  numbers,  their  armies  would  be  so  increased  that  German 
resistance  would  be  futile.  Under  such  circumstances  began  the 
last  great  offensive  of  the  German  army. 

At  that  time  it  seems  probable  that  the  armies  of  Great  Britain 
and  France  numbered  about  three  million  five  hundred  thousand 
men,  and  that,  of  these,  six  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  were 
on  the  front  lines  when  the  German  attack  began,  leaving  an  army 
of  reserve  of  about  two  million  eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
men.  A  considerable  number  of  these  were  probably  in  England  on 
leave.  The  number  of  French  soldiers  must  have  been  between 
four  and  five  million,  of  whom  about  one  million  five  hundred 

531 


532 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


HOW  GERMANY  ATTEMPTED  TO  DIVIDE  THE  ALLIED  ARMIES 

The  map  shows  the  ground  covered  by  the  Germans  in  the  terrific  Picardy  drive 
of  March,  1918,  which  had  for  its  object  the  capture  of  Amiens  and  the  push  forward 
along  the  Somme  to  the  channel,  thus  dividing  the  British  army  in  the  north  from  the 
French  and  Americans  in  the  south. 


GERMANY'S  DYING  DESPERATE  EFFORT    533 

thousand  were  on  the  front  line.  Adding  to  these  the  American, 
Belgian,  Portuguese,  Russian  and  Polish  troops  the  Allied  forces 
could  not  have  been  short  of  eight  million  five  hundred  thousand 
men. 

The  strength  of  the  Germans  on  the  western  front  before  the 
Russian  Revolution  was  probably  about  four  million  five  hundred 
thousand  men,  and  the  withdrawal  of  Russia  from  the  war  had 
added  to  that  number  probably  as  many  as  one  million  five  hundred 
thousand  men,  making  an  army  of  six  million  men  to  oppose  that 
of  the  Allies.  The  Allies,  therefore,  must  have  considerably  out- 
numbered the  Germans. 

In  spite  of  this  fact  in  nearly  all  the  engagements  in  the  early 
part  of  the  great  offensive  the  Allied  forces  were  outnumbered  in 
a  ratio  varying  from  three  to  one  to  five  to  three.  This  was  possible, 
first,  because  in  any  offensive  the  attacking  side  naturally  con- 
centrates as  many  troops  as  it  can  gather  at  the  point  from  which  the 
offense  is  to  begin,  and  second,  since  the  Allies  were  not  under  one 
command  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  arrangements  could 
be  made  by  which  the  forces  of  one  nation  could  reinforce  the 
armies  of  another. 

The  first  difficulty  of  course  could  not  be  obviated,  but  the 
solution  of  the  second  difficulty  was  the  appointment  of  General 
Foch  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the  Allied  forces. 

The  appointment  was  made  on  March  28th  and  all  the  influence 
of  the  United  States  had  been  exerted  in  its  favor.  General 
Pershing  at  once  offered  to  General  Foch  the  unrestricted  use  of  the 
American  force  in  France  and  it  was  agreed  that  a  large  part  of  the 
American  army  should  be  brigaded  with  the  Allied  troops  wherever 
there  were  weak  spots. 

Foch  was  already  famous  as  the  greatest  strategist  in  Europe. 
He  comes  of  a  Basque  family  and  was  born  in  the  town  of  Tarbes, 
in  the  Department  of  the  Hautes-Pyrene*es,  which  is  on  the  border  of 
Spam,  on  October  2,  1851.  Foch  served  as  a  subaltern  in  the 
Franco-Prussian  War  and  at  twenty-six  was  made  captain  hi  the 
artillery.  Later  he  became  Professor  of  Tactics  hi  the  Ecole  de 
Guerre,  where  he  remained  for  five  years.  He  then  returned  to  regi- 
mental work  and  won  steady  promotion  until  he  became  brigadier- 
general.  He  was  sent  back  to  the  War  College  as  Director  and 
wrote  two  books,  "The  Principles  of  War"  and  "Conduct  of  War," 


534  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

which  have  been  translated  into  English,  German  and  Italian  and 
are  considered  standard  works.  He  was  now  recognized  as  a  man 
of  unusual  ability  and  was  appointed  to  the  command  first,  of  the 
Thirteenth  division,  then  of  the  Eighth  corps  at  Bourges,  and 
then  to  the  command  of  the  Twentieth  corps  at  Nancy. 

Unlike  Marshal  Joffre  who  was  cool,  careful,  slow  moving, 
Marshal  Foch  is  full  of  daring  and  impetuosity.  Everything  is 
calculated  scientifically  but  his  strategy  is  full  of  dash.  Many  of 
his  sayings  have  been  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth  among  the 
Allies. 

"Find  out  the  weak  point  of  your  enemy  and  deliver  your  blow 
there,"  he  said  once  at  a  staff  banquet. 

"But  suppose,  General,"  said  an  officer,  "that  the  enemy  has 
no  weak  point?" 

"If  the  enemy  has  no  weak  point,"  replied  the  Commander, 
"make  one." 

It  was  he  who  telegraphed  to  Joffre  during  the  first  battle  of 
the  Marne:  "The  enemy  is  attacking  my  flank.  My  rear  is 
threatened.  I  am  therefore  attacking  in  front." 

Foch  is  a  great  student,  an  especial  admirer  of  Napoleon, 
whose  campaigns  he  had  thoroughly  studied.  Even  the  campaigns 
of  Caesar  he  had  found  valuable  and  had  gathered  from  them 
practical  suggestions  for  his  own  campaigns.  He  is  the  hero  of  the 
Marne,  the  man  who  on  September  9th  marched  his  army  between 
Von  Bulow  and  Von  Hausen's  Saxons,  drove  the  Prussian  Guards 
into  the  marshes  of  St.  Gond  and  forced  both  Prussians  and  Saxons 
into  their  first  great  retreat.  Later  his  armies  fought  on  the  Yser 
while  the  British  were  battling  at  Ypres.  During  the  battle  of  the 
Somme  he  was  on  the  English  right  pressing  to  Peronne. 

For  a  tune  he  became  Chief  of  the  French  Staff,  until  he  was 
called  into  the  field  again  to  his  great  command.  Foch  was  one 
of  those  French  officers  who  had  felt  that  war  was  sure  to  come, 
and  had  constantly  urged  that  France  should  be  kept  in  a  state  of 
preparedness.  The  appointment  of  General  Foch  to  the  Supreme 
Command  was  largely  the  result  of  American  urgency. 

General  March,  the  American  Chief  of  Staff,  in  one  of  his 
weekly  announcements,  stated:  "One  of  the  most  striking  things 
noticeable  hi  the  situation  as  it  is  shown  on  the  western  front  is 
the  supreme  importance  of  having  a  single  command.  The  accep- 


GERMANY'S  DYING  DESPERATE  EFFORT   535 

tance  of  the  principle  of  having  a  single  command,  which  was 
advocated  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  carried  through 
under  his  constant  pressure,  is  one  of  the  most  important  single 
military  things  that  has  been  done  as  far  as  the  Allies  are  concerned. 
The  unity  of  command  which  Germany  has  had  from  the  start  of  the 
war  has  been  a  very  important  military  asset,  and  we  already  see 
the  supreme  value  of  having  that  central  command  which  now 
has  been  concentrated  hi  General  Foch." 

General  March,  who  had  earlier  been  appointed  Chief  of  Staff 
of  the  United  States  army,  was  sending  a  steady  stream  of 
American  troops  to  Europe,  a  fact  whose  importance  was  well 
understood  by  the  new  Commander-in-Chief.  On  General  March's 
promotion  General  Foch  sent  him  the  following  message: 

I  hear  with  deep  satisfaction  of  your  promotion  to  the  rank  of  General. 
I  associate  myself  to  the  just  pride  which  you  must  feel  in  evoking  the 
names  of  your  glorious  predecessors,  Grant  and  Sheridan.  I  convey  to 
you  my  sincere  congratulations  and  I  am  happy  to  see  you  assume  per- 
manently the  huge  task  of  Chief  of  Staff  of  the  United  States  army  which 
you  are  already  performing  in  so  brilliant  a  way. 

General  March  replied : 

Your  message  of  congratulation  upon  my  promotion  to  the  grade  of 
General  Chief  of  Staff,  United  States  army,  was  personally  conveyed  to 
me  by  General  Vignal,  French  Military  Attache".  I  appreciate  deeply 
your  most  kindly  greetings  and  in  expressing  my  most  sincere  thanks,  avaD 
myself  of  the  opportunity  to  assure  you  of  every  assistance  and  constant 
support  which  may  lie  in  my  power  to  aid  you  in  the  furtherance  and 
successful  accomplishment  of  your  great  task. 

General  Foch  took  command  at  a  very  critical  time.  The 
Germans  had  prepared  the  most  formidable  drive  in  the  history 
of  the  war.  They  had  gathered  immense  masses  of  munitions  and 
supplies.  Their  great  armies  had  been  refitted  and  they  were  in 
hopes  of  a  victory  which  would  end  the  war.  Their  great  offensive 
had  many  phases.  It  resulted  in  the  development  of  three  great 
salients,  the  first  in  Picardy  and  in  the  direction  of  Amiens  along 
the  Somme,  which  was  launched  on  March  21st;  the  second  on  the 
Lys,  which  was  launched  on  April  9th;  and  the  third  which  is 
called  the  Oise-Marne  salient,  launched  on  May  27th. 

Between  the  attacks  which  developed  these  salients  there 
were  also  some  unsuccesful  attacks  of  almost  equal  power.  On 


536 


March  28th  there  was  a  desperate  struggle  to  capture  Arras,  pre- 
ceded by  a  bombardment  as  great  as  any  during  the  whole  offensive, 
but  this  attack  was  defeated  with  enormous  losses  to  the  German 
troops.  A  fourth  phase  of  the  German  offensive  took  place  on 
June  9th,  on  a  front  of  twenty  miles  between  Noyon  and  Mont- 
didier,  which  gained  a  few  miles  at  an  enormous  cost. 


THE  LAST  DESPERATE  DRIVES  OP  THE  GERMANS 

On  July  15th  came  the  last  of  the  great  offensives.  It  was  a 
smash  on  a  sixty-mile  line  from  Chateau-Thierry  up  the  Marne, 
around  Rheims,  and  then  east  to  a  few  miles  west  of  the  Argonne 
forest.  This  offensive  at  the  start  made  a  penetration  of  from 
three  to  five  miles,  but  was  held  firmly  and  much  of  the  gain  lost, 
through  the  counter-attacks  of  the  Allies.  It  was  at  this  point 
that  the  American  troops  first  began  to  be  seriously  felt,  and  it 


GERMANY'S  DYING  DESPERATE  EFFORT  537 

was  at  this  point  that  General  Foch  took  up  the  story,  and  began 
the  great  series  of  Allied  drives  which  were  to  crush  the  German 
power.  But  there  had  been  many  days  of  great  anxiety  before  the 
turn  of  the  tide. 

The  objects  of  the  German  drives  were  doubtless  more  or  less 
dependent  upon  their  success.  The  first  drive  in  Picardy,  in  the 
direction  of  Amiens  had  apparently  as  its  object  to  drive  a  wedge 
between  the  French  and  British  and  the  object  was  so  nearly  attained 
that  only  the  heroic  work  of  General  Carey  saved  the  Allies  from 
disaster. 

The  Fifth  British  army,  which  had  borne  the  brunt  of  the 
German  attack,  had  found  itself  almost  crushed  by  the  sheer  weight 
of  numbers.  The  whole  line  was  broken  up  and  it  seemed  as  if  the 
road  was  open  to  Amiens.  French  reinforcements  could  not  come  up 
in  time;  bridges  could  not  be  blown  up  because  the  engineers  were 
all  killed.  Orders  came  to  General  Carey  at  two  o'clock  hi  the 
morning,  March  26th,  to  hold  the  gap.  He  at  once  proceeded  to 
gather  an  extemporized  army. 

Every  available  man  was  rounded  up,  among  others  a  body  of 
American  engineers.  Laborers,  sappers,  raw  recruits  as  well  as 
soldiers  of  every  arm.  There  were  plenty  of  machine  guns,  but 
few  men  knew  how  to  handle  them.  With  this  scratch  army  in 
temporary  trenches,  he  lay  for  six  days,  and  as  Lloyd  George  said, 
"They  held  the  German  army  and  closed  that  gap  on  the  way 
to  Amiens." 

During  this  fight  General  Carey  rode  along  the  lines  shouting 
encouraging  words  to  his  hard-pressed  men.  He  did  not  know 
whether  he  would  get  supplies  of  ammunition  and  provisions  or 
not,  but  he  stuck  to  it.  Later  on  the  regular  troops  arrived.  The 
American  engineers,  who  had  been  fighting,  immediately  returned 
to  their  base,  and  resumed  work  laying  out  trenches.  General 
Rawlinson,  Commander  of  the  British  army  at  that  point,  sent  the 
commanding  officer  of  the  Americans  engaged,  the  following 
letter: 

The  army  Commander  wishes  to  record  officially  his  appreciation  of 
the  excellent  work  your  regiment  has  done  in  assisting  the  British  army  to 
resist  the  enemy's  powerful  offensive  during  the  last  ten  days.  I  iully 
realize  that  it  has  been  largely  due  to  your  assistance  that  the  enemy  has 
been  checked,  and  I  rely  on  you  to  assist  us  still  further  during  the  .few 


538  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

days  that  are  still  to  come  before  I  shall  be  able  to  relieve  you  in  the  line. 
I  consider  your  work  in  the  line  to  be  greatly  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  for 
six  weeks  previous  to  your  taking  your  place  in  the  front  line  your  men  had 
been  working  at  such  high  pressure  erecting  heavy  bridges  on  the  Somme. 
My  best  congratulations  and  warm  thanks  to  all. 

RAWLINSON. 

The  demoralization  of  General  Cough's  Fifth  army,  which  had 
thus  left  an  eight-mile  gap  on  the  left,  and  which  had  been  saved  at 
that  point  by  General  Carey,  permitted  also  the  opening  of  another 
gap  between  its  right  wing  and  the  Sixth  French  army.  Here 
General  Fayolle  did  with  organized  troops  what  Carey  had  done 
with  his  volunteers  further  north.  The  reason  for  the  success 
of  both  Carey  and  Fayolle  appears  to  have  been  that  the  German 
armies  had  been  so  thoroughly  battered  that  they  were  unable  to 
take  advantage  of  the  situation.  Their  regiments  had  been  mixed 
up,  their  officers  had  been  separated  from  their  men  in  the  rush 
of  the  attack,  and  before  they  could  recover  the  opportunity  was 
lost. 

The  first  days  of  April  saw  the  end  of  the  drive  toward  Amiens. 
The  Germans  claimed  the  capture  of  ninety  thousand  prisoners 
and  one  thousand  three  hundred  guns.  They  had  penetrated  into 
the  Allies'  territory  in  some  points  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles. 
Their  new  line  extended  southwest  from  Arras  beyond  Albert  to  the 
west  of  Moreuil,  which  is  about  nine  miles  south  of  Amiens,  and 
then  went  on  west  of  Pierrepont  and  Montdidier,  curving  out  at 
Noyon  to  the  region  of  the  Oise. 

The  first  part  of  April  was  a  comparative  calm,  when  suddenly 
there  developed  the  second  drive  of  the  German  offensive.  This 
drive  was  not  so  extensive  as  the  first  one,  and  its  object  appeared 
to  be  to  break  through  the  British  forces  hi  Flanders  and  reach  the 
Channel  ports.  It  resulted  hi  a  salient  embracing  an  area  about 
three  hundred  and  twenty  square  mil«s,  and  the  Germans  claimed 
the  capture  of  twenty  thousand  prisoners  and  two  hundred  guns. 
It  was  at  this  point  that  General  Haig  issued  his  famous  order  hi 
which  he  described  the  British  armies  as  standing  with  their  "backs 
to  the  wall."  It  reads  as  follows: 

Three  weeks  ago  today  the  enemy  began  his  terrific  attacks  against 
us  on  a  fifty-mile  front.  Its  objects  are  to  separate  us  from  the  French, 
to  take  the  Channel  ports,  and  to  destroy  the  British  army.  In  spite  of 
throwing  already  one  hundred  and  six  divisions  into  the  battle  and  enduring 


GERMANY'S  DYING  DESPERATE  EFFORT    539 

the  most  reckless  sacrifice  of  human  life,  he  has  yet  made  little  progress 
toward  his  goals.  We  owe  this  to  the  determined  fighting  and  self-sacrifice 
of  our  troops.  Words  fail  me  to  express  the  admiration  which  I  feel  for  the 
splendid  resistance  offered  by  all  ranks  of  our  army  under  the  most  trying 
circumstances.  Many  among  us  now  are  tired.  To  those  I  would  say 
that  victory  will  belong  to  the  side  which  holds  out  the  longest.  The 
French  army  is  moving  rapidly  and  in  great  force  to  our  support.  There 
is  no  other  course  open  to  us  but  to  fight  it  out.  Every  position  must  be 
held  to  the  last  man.  There  must  be  no  retiring.  With  our  backs  to  the 
wall  and  believing  hi  the  justice  of  our  cause  each  one  of  us  must  fight  to 
the  end.  The  safety  of  our  homes,  and  the  freedom  of  mankind  depend 
alike  upon  the  conduct  of  each  one  of  us  at  this  critical  moment. 

The  British  commander's  order  made  the  situation  clear  to  the 
British  people  and  to  the  world.  The  Germans  had  given  up  for 
the  moment  their  attempt  to  divide  the  British  and  French  armies, 
and  were  now  attempting  to  seize  the  Channel  ports,  and  the 
British  were  fighting  with  true  British  pluck  with  their  "backs 
to  the  wall." 

One  can  imagine  the  anxiety  in  the  villages  of  Flanders  where 
they  watched  the  German  advance  and  heard  the  terrible  bombard- 
ment which  was  destroying  their  beautiful  little  cities,  and  threaten- 
ing to  put  them  under  the  dominion  of  the  brutal  conquerors  of 
Belgium.  Town  after  town  fell  to  the  enemy  until  at  last  the 
German  attack  began  to  weaken. 

Counter-attacks  on  April  17th  recaptured  the  villages  of 
Wytschaete  and  Meteren.  At  other  points  German  attacks  were 
repulsed,  and  the  attack  on  the  Lys  had  reached  its  limits.  It  had 
not  only  failed  to  reach  the  coast  but  it  had  not  even  reached  so 
far  as  to  force  the  evacuation  of  Ypres  or  to  endanger  Arras.  On 
the  contrary  the  Germans  had  paid  for  their  advance  by  such 
terrible  losses  that  the  ground  that  they  had  gained  meant  almost 
nothing.  They  then  made,  on  April  30th,  a  vigorous  endeavor  to 
broaden  the  Amiens  salient  in  the  region  of  Hangard  and  Noyon. 
This  attack  also  failed. 

On  May  27th  Ludendorf  made  his  next  move.  This  was  in 
the  south,  and  was  preceded  by  the  most  elaborate  preparations 
over  a  forty-mile  front.  At  first  it  met  with  great  success.  German 
troops  from  a  point  northwest  of  Rheims  to  Montdidier  were  moving 
apparently  with  the  purpose  of  breaking  the  French  lines  and 
clearing  the  way  for  a  drive  to  Paris.  Consternation  reigned  among 


540  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Allied  observers  as  the  Germans  carried,  apparently  with  ease, 
first  the  formidable  Chemin  des  Dames,  which  was  believed  invul- 
nerable, and  then  the  south  bank  of  the  Aisne,  with  its  great  forti- 
fications at  Soissons. 

Criticism  began  to  appear  of  General  Foch,  who  was  thought 
at  first  to  have  been  taken  by  surprise.  The  Germans  were  using 
four  hundred  thousand  of  then-  best  troops,  and  the  greatest  force 
of  tanks,  machine  guns  and  poison-gas  projectors  which  they  had 
ever  gathered.  They  captured  over  forty-five  thousand  prisoners 
and  took  four  hundred  guns.  They  penetrated  thirty  miles  and 
gained  six  hundred  and  fifty  square  miles  of  territory,  but  they 
were  held  on  the  River  Marne. 

It  is  now  apparent  that  General  Foch  knew  exactly  what  he 
was  about.  He  might  easily,  by  sending  in  reinforcements,  have 
put  up  the  same  desperate  resistance  to  the  German  offensive 
which  they  were  now  meeting  in  other  sectors.  But  he  preferred 
to  retreat  and  lead  the  enemy  on  to  a  position  which  would  make 
them  vulnerable  to  the  great  counter-attack  he  was  preparing  for 
them  on  their  flank.  The  Germans  reached  the  Marne,  but  they 
paid  for  it  in  the  terrible  losses  which  they  incurred. 

The  German  line  now  from  Montdidier,  the  extreme  point  of 
the  Amiens  salient,  to  Chateau-Thierry,  the  point  of  the  new  Marne 
salient,  was  in  the  form  of  a  bow,  and  on  June  9th  General  Luden- 
dorf  attempted  to  straighten  out  the  line.  His  new  attack  was 
made  on  a  twenty-mile  front  between  Montdidier  and  Noyon  in  the 
direction  of  Compidgne.  This  was  another  terrific  drive  and  at 
first  gained  about  seven  miles.  French  counter-attacks,  however, 
not  only  held  him  hi  a  vise  but  regained  a  distance  of  about  one 
mile.  This  battle  was  probably  the  most  disastrous  one  fought 
by  the  Germans  during  then1  whole  offensive.  Nearly  four  hundred 
thousand  men  were  completely  used  up,  without  gaining  the  slightest 
strategic  success. 

Then  followed  a  period  without  battles  of  major  importance, 
during  which  General  Foch  by  periodic  assaults  on  the  Lys,  the 
Somme,  on  the  flanks  of  Montdidier  and  Soissons,  on  the  Chateau- 
Thierry  sector  and  southwest  of  Rheims,  captured  many  important 
positions  and  kept  the  enemy  in  constant  anxiety. 

During  the  great  German  offensives  the  Germans  had  lost 
at  least  five  hundred  thousand  men,  while  the  casualties  of  the 


GERMANY'S  DYING  DESPERATE  EFFORT  541 

Allies  were  barely  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  The  Germans 
also  were  beginning  to  lose  then*  morale.  They  were  finding  that 
however  great  might  be  their  efforts,  however  terrible  might  be 
their  losses,  they  were  still  being  constantly  held.  Their  troops 
were  now  apparently  made  of  inferior  material,  and  included  boys, 
old  men  and  even  convicts. 

The  system  of  making  attacks  by  means  of  shock  troops  was 
producing  the  inevitable  result.  The  shock  regiments  were  com- 
posed of  selected  men,  picked  here  and  there,  from  the  regular 
troops.  Their  selection  had  naturally  weakened  the  regiments 
from  which  they  were  taken.  After  three  months  of  great  offensives 
these  shock  troops  were  now  hi  great  part  destroyed,  and  the 
German  lines  were  being  held  mainly  by  the  inferior  troops  which 
had  been  left.  Moreover,  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  the  allies 
of  Germany  were  being  beaten.  In  Italy  and  Albania  and  Mace- 
donia there  was  danger. 

The  Germans  prepared  for  one  more  effort.  On  June  18th  they 
had  made  a  costly  attempt  to  carry  Rheims.  On  July  15th  they 
made  their  last  drive.  Ludendorf  took  almost  a  month  for  prep- 
aration. He  gathered  together  seventy  divisions  and  great 
masses  of  munitions,  and  then  drove  in  from  Chateau-Thierry  on 
a  sixty-mile  line  up  on  the  Marne,  and  then  east  to  the  Argonne 
forests.  His  line  made  a  sort  of  semicircle  around  Rheims  and  then 
pushed  south  to  the  east  and  west  of  that  fortress. 

Once  again  he  had  temporary  success.  West  of  Rheims  he 
penetrated  a  distance  of  five  miles,  and  on  the  first  day,  had  crossed 
the  Marne  at  Dormans,  but  was  held  sharply  by  the  Americans 
east  of  Chateau-Thierry.  On  the  second  day  he  made  further 
gams,  but  with  appalling  losses.  On  the  17th  he  was  still  struggling 
on  with  minor  successes  but  on  July  18th  the  French  and  Americans 
launched  the  great  counter-offensive  from  Chateau-Thierry  along 
a  twenty-five  mile  front,  between  the  Marne  and  the  Aisne.  The 
Germans  everywhere  began  their  retreat  and  the  war  tide  had 
turned. 

The  German  attack  east  of  Rheims  had  been  a  failure  from  the 
start.  The  Allied  forces  retired  about  two  miles  and  then  held  firm. 
The  country  there  is  flat  and  sandy  and  gave  little  shelter  to  the 
attacking  forces  which  lost  terribly.  In  this  sector,  too,  there  were 
many  American  troops,  who  behaved  with  distinguished  bravery. 


542  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

By  this  time  nearly  seven  hundred  thousand  men  of 
the  American  army  were  on  the  battle  line.  They  had  been 
fighting  here  and  there  among  the  French  and  English  but  on 
June  22d  General  March  made  the  announcement  that  five 
divisions  of  these  troops  had  been  transferred  to  the  direct  com- 
mand of  General  Pershing  as  a  nucleus  for  an  American 
army. 

In  glancing  back  at  the  great  German  drives  which  have  now 
been  described,  one  is  impressed  by  the  terrific  character  of  the 
fighting.  This  struggle  undoubtedly  was  the  greatest  exertion  of 
military  power  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Never  before  had 
such  masses  of  munitions  been  used;  never  before  had  scientific 
knowledge  been  so  drawn  on  in  the  service  of  war.  Thousands  of 
airplanes  were  patrolling  the  air,  sometimes  scouting,  sometimes 
dropping  bombs  on  hostile  troops  or  on  hostile  stores,  sometimes 
flying  low,  firing  their  machine  guns  into  the  faces  of  marching 
troops.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  great  guns  were  sending 
enormous  projectiles,  which  made  great  pits  wherever  they  fell. 
Swarms  of  machine  guns  were  pouring  their  bullets  like  water  from 
a  hose  upon  the  charging  soldiers. 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  artillery  developments  was  the 
long-range  gun  which  off  and  on  during  this  period  was  bombard- 
ing Paris.  This  bombardment  began  on  March  23d,  when  the 
nearest  German  line  was  more  than  sixty-two  miles  away.  For  a 
time  the  story  was  regarded  as  pure  fiction,  but  it  was  soon  estab- 
lished that  the  great  nine-inch  shells  which  were  dropping  into  the 
city  every  twenty  minutes  came  from  the  forests  of  St.  Gobain, 
seven  miles  back  of  the  French  trenches  near  Laon,  and  about 
seventy-five  miles  from  Paris.  This  was  another  of  those  futile 
bits  of  frightfulness  hi  which  the  Germans  reveled.  Military  advan- 
tage gained  by  such  a  gun  was  almost  nothing,  and  the  expense  of 
every  shot  was  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  damage  inflicted.  It 
only  roused  intense  indignation  and  stirred  the  Allies  to  greater 
determination.  The  first  day's  casualties  in  Paris  were  ten  killed 
and  fifteen  wounded.  By  the  next  day  one  would  not  have  been 
able  to  tell  from  the  Paris  streets  that  such  a  bombardment  was 
going  on  at  all.  The  subway  and  surface  cars  were  running,  the 
streets  were  thronged  and  traffic  was  going  on  as  usual.  About 
two  dozen  shells  were  thrown  into  Paris  every  day,  mainly  in  the 


GERMANY'S  DYING  DESPERATE  EFFORT   543 

Montmartre  district,  in  a  radius  of  about  a  mile.  This  seemed  to 
show  that  the  gun  was  immovable. 

On  March  29th,  however,  a  shell  struck  the  church  of  St. 
Gervais  during  the  Good  Friday  service,  killing  seventy-five  persons 
and  wounding  ninety.  Fifty-four  of  those  killed  were  women. 
The  church  had  been  struck  at  the  moment  of  the  Elevation  of  the 
Host.  This  outrage  aroused  special  indignation,  and  Pope  Benedict 
sent  a  protest  to  Berlin. 

An  examination  of  exploded  shells  indicated  that  the  new 
German  gun  was  less  than  nine  inches  in  caliber,  and  that  the  pro- 
jectiles, which  weighed  about  two  hundred  pounds,  contained  two 
charges,  in  two  chambers  connected  by  a  fuse  which  often  exploded 
more  than  a  minute  apart.  It  took  three  minutes  for  each  shell  to 
travel  to  Paris  and  it  was  estimated  that  such  a  shell  rose  to  a 
height  of  twenty  miles  from  the  earth.  Three  of  these  guns  were 
used.  One  of  these  guns  exploded  on  March  29th,  killing  a  German 
lieutenant  and  nine  men.  The  Kaiser  was  present  when  the  gun 
was  first  used.  It  was  said  by  American  scientists  that  seismographs 
in  the  United  States  felt  the  shock  of  each  discharge.  On  April  9th 
French  aviators  discovered  the  location  of  the  new  guns,  and  French 
artillery  began  to  drop  enormous  shells  weighing  half  a  ton  each  near 
the  German  monsters.  A  few  days  later  a  French  shell  fell  on  the 
barrel  of  one  of  these  guns  and  put  it  out  of  commission.  Great 
craters  were  made  around  the  other,  interfering  with  its  use,  and 
toward  the  end  of  the  period  it  was  only  occasionally  that  the 
remaining  gun  was  fired,  and  no  great  damage  resulted. 

Another  feature  of  the  great  German  drives  was  the  tremendous 
destruction  that  accompanied  them.  Not  only  were  churches, 
public  buildings,  and  private  houses  throughout  almost  the  whole 
district  turned  into  ruins,  but  the  very  ground  itself  was  plowed 
up  into  craters  and  shell  holes,  and  the  trees  smashed  into  mere 
splinters.  During  the  whole  campaign  poison  gas  of  various  kinds 
was  used  hi  immense  quantities,  and  it  was  constantly  necessary 
for  the  troops  to  wear  gas  masks.  Sometimes  after  a  town  had  been 
evacuated  by  the  enemy  it  was  so  filled  with  gas  that  it  was  impos- 
sible for  victorious  troops  to  enter.  One  of  the  fiercest  bombard- 
ments was  that  directed  against  the  Portuguese  during  the  fighting 
along  the  Lys.  The  enemy  made  a  special  attempt  to  crush  the 
Portuguese  contingent  which  behaved  with  the  utmost  gallantry. 


544  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

It  was  the  season  of  the  year  when  the  orchards  were  covered 
with  blossoms  and  the  fields  with  flowers,  but  the  horrors  of  war 
destroyed  the  beauty  of  the  spring.  In  these  battles  men  fought 
until  they  were  completely  exhausted  and  one  could  see  troops 
staggering  as  they  walked  and  leaning  on  each  other  from  pure 
exhaustion. 

These  were  days  when  wonders  were  performed  by  the  Medical 
Departments  of  the  Allied  armies,  and  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross  was 
almost  as  important  as  the  work  of  the  soldiers.  Relief  for  the 
wounded  had  to  be  undertaken  and  carried  on  on  a  mammoth  scale. 
Many  of  the  doctors,  nurses,  orderlies  and  ambulance  men  lost  their 
lives  while  making  efforts  to  rescue  the  wounded. 

These  were  days  when  the  German  leaders  were  filled  with  the 
pride  of  victory.  They  were  talking  now  about  a  hard  German 
peace.  On  June  17th  the  German  Kaiser  celebrated  the  thirtieth 
anniversary  of  his  accession  to  the  throne.  He  talked  no  more  of  a 
war  of  self-defense,  but  declared  the  war  to  be  the  struggle  of  two 
world  views  wrestling  with  each  other.  "Either  German  principles 
of  right,  freedom,  honor  and  morality  must  be  upheld,  or  Anglo- 
Saxon  principles  with  their  idolatry  of  Mammon  must  be  vic- 
torious." He  sent  congratulations  to  Field  Marshal  von  Hinden- 
burg,  to  General  Ludendorf  and  to  the  Crown  Prince.  Von  Hin- 
denburg  assured  the  Kaiser  of  the  unswerving  loyalty  until  death  of 
Germany's  sons  at  the  front,  and  concluded  "May  our  old  motto1 
'  Forward  with  God  for  King  and  Fatherland,  for  Kaiser  and 
Empire*  result  hi  many  years  of  peace  being  granted  to  your 
Majesty  after  our  victorious  return  home." 

But  the  terrific  attacks  which  the  German  commanders  directed 
upon  the  Americans  at  Chateau-Thierry  and  at  other  points  upon 
the  southern  lines  show  well  that  they  knew  that  there  was  another 
danger  rising  to  confront  them;  that  during  their  great  drives  a 
million  and  a  half  American  soldiers  had  been  learning  the  art  of 
war,  and  that  every  moment  of  delay  meant  a  new  danger.  By  the 
end  of  this  period  the  Americans  had  arrived. 


CHAPTER  XLII 
CHATEAU-THIERRY,  FIELD  OF  GLORY 

NOWHERE  in  American  history  may  be  found  a  more 
glorious  record  than  that  which  crowned  with  laurel  the 
American  arms  at  Chateau-Thierry.  Here  the  American 
Marines  and  divisions  comprising  both  volunteers  and 
selected  soldiers,  were  thrown  before  the  German  tide  of  invasion 
like  a  huge  khaki-colored  breakwater.  Germany  knew  that  a 
test  of  its  empire  had  come.  To  break  the  wall  of  American  might 
it  threw  into  the  van  of  the  attack  the  Prussian  Guard  backed  by 
the  most  formidable  troops  of  the  German  and  Austrian  empires. 
The  object  was  to  put  the  fear  of  the  Hun  into  the  hearts  of  the 
Yankees,  to  overwhelm  them,  to  drive  straight  through  them  as 
the  prow  of  a  battleship  shears  through  a  heavy  sea.  If  America 
could  be  defeated,  Germany's  way  to  a  speedy  victory  was  at  hand. 
If  America  held — well,  that  way  lay  disaster. 

And  the  Americans  held.  Not  only  did  they  hold  but  they 
counter-attacked  with  such  bloody  consequences  to  the  German 
army  that  Marshal  Foch,  seizing  the  psychological  moment  for  his 
carefully  prepared  counter-offensive,  gave  the  word  for  a  general 
attack. 

With  Chateau-Thierry  and  the  Marne  as  a  hinge,  the  clamp 
of  the  Allies  closed  upon  the  defeated  Germans.  From  Switzer- 
land to  the  North  Sea  the  drive  went  forward,  operating  as  huge 
pincers  cutting  like  chilled  steel  through  the  Hindenburg  and  the 
Kriemhild  lines.  It  was  the  beginning  of  autocracy's  end,  the 
end  of  Der  Tag  of  which  Germany  had  dreamed. 

The  matchless  Marines  and  the  other  American  troops  suffered 
a  loss  that  staggered  America.  It  was  a  loss,  however,  that  was 
well  worth  while.  The  heroic  young  Americans  who  held  the 
might  of  Germany  helpless  and  finally  rolled  them  back  defeated 
from  the  field  of  battle,  and  who  paid  for  that  victory  with  their 
lives,  made  certain  the  speedy  end  of  the  world's  bloodiest  war. 

The  story  of  the  American  army's  effective  operations  in  France 

645 


546  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

from  Cantigny  to  the  reduction  of  the  St.  Mihiel  salient,  ia  one 
long  record  of  victories.  To  the  glory  of  American  arms  must  be 
recorded  the  fact  that  at  no  time  and  at  no  place  in  the  World 
War  did  the  American  forces  retreat  before  the  German  hosts. 

In  the  latter  days  of  May,  1918,  the  Allied  forces  in  France 
seemed  near  defeat.  The  Germans  were  steadily  driving  toward 
Paris.  They  had  swept  over  the  Chemin  des  Dames  and  the 
papers  from  day  to  day  were  chronicling  wonderful  successes.  The 
Chemin  des  Dames  had  been  regarded  as  impregnable,  but  the 
Germans  passed  it  apparently  without  the  slightest  difficulty. 
They  were  advancing  on  a  forty-mile  front  and  on  May  28th  had 
reached  the  Aisne,  with  the  French  and  British  steadily  falling 
back.  The  anxiety  of  the  Allies  throughout  the  world  was 
indescribable.  This  was  the  great  German  " Victory  Drive"  and 
each  day  registered  a  new  Allied  defeat.  Newspaper  headlines 
were  almost  despairing. 

On  May  29th,  however,  hi  quiet  type,  under  great  headlines 
announcing  a  German  gain  of  ten  miles  in  which  the  Germans  had 
taken  twenty-five  thousand  prisoners  and  crossed  two  rivers,  had 
captured  Soissons,  and  were  threatening  Rheims,  there  appeared  hi 
American  papers  a  quiet  little  despatch  from  General  Pershing.  It 
read  as  follows: 

"This  morning  in  Picardy  our  troops  attacked  on  a  front  of 
one  and  one-fourth  miles,  advanced  our  lines,  and  captured  the 
village  of  Cantigny.  We  took  two  hundred  prisoners,  and  inflicted 
on  the  enemy  severe  losses  hi  killed  and  wounded.  Our  casualties 
were  relatively  small.  Hostile  counter-attacks  broke  down  under 
our  fire."  This  was  the  first  American  offensive. 

The  American  troops  had  now  been  hi  Europe  almost  a  year. 
At  first  but  a  small  force,  they  had  been  greeted  in  Paris  and  in 
London  with  tremendous  enthusiasm.  Up  to  this  point  they  had 
done  little  or  nothing,  but  the  small  force  which  passed  through 
Paris  in  the  summer  of  1917  had  been  growing  steadily.  By  this 
time  the  American  army  numbered  more  than  eight  hundred 
thousand  men.  They  had  been  getting  ready;  in  camps  far  behind 
the  lines  they  had  been  trained,  not  only  by  their  own  officers,  but 
by  some  of  the  greatest  experts  in  the  French  and  the  British 
armies.  Thousands  of  officers  and  men  who,  but  a  few  months 
before,  had  been  busily  engaged  in  civilian  pursuits,  had  now  learned 


CHATEAU-THIERRY,  FIELD   OF   GLORY      549 

something  of  the  art  of  war.  They  had  been  supplied  with  a 
splendid  equipment,  with  great  guns  and  with  all  the  modern 
requirements  of  an  up-to-date  army. 

For  some  months,  here  and  there,  on  the  French  and  British 
lines,  small  detachments  of  American  troops  flanked  on  both 
sides  by  the  Allied  forces,  had  been  learning  the  art  of  war.  Here 
and  there  they  had  been  under  fire.  At  Cantigny  itself  they  had 
resisted  attack.  On  May  27th  General  Pershing  had  reported 
"In  Picardy,  after  violent  artillery  preparations,  hostile  infantry 
detachments  succeeded  in  penetrating  our  advance  positions  in 
two  points.  Our  troops  counter-attacked,  completely  expelling  the 
enemy  and  entering  his  lines."  They  had  also  been  fighting  that 
day  in  the  Woevre  sector  where  a  raiding  party  had  been  repulsed. 
There  had  been  other  skirmishes,  too,  in  which  many  Americans 
had  won  honors  both  from  Great  Britain  and  France.  But  the 
attack  at  Cantigny  was  the  first  distinct  American  advance. 

The  Ameriotans  penetrated  the  German  positions  to  the  depth 
of  nearly  a  mile.  Their  artillery  completely  smothered  the  Germans, 
and  its  whirr  could  be  heard  for  many  miles  in  the  rear.  Twelve 
French  tanks  supported  the  American  infantry.  The  artillery 
preparation  lasted  for  one  hour,  and  then  the  lines  of  Americans 
went  over  the  top.  A  strong  unit  of  flame  throwers  and  engineers 
aided  the  Americans.  The  American  barrage  moved  forward  a 
hundred  yards  hi  two  minutes  and  then  a  hundred  yards  in  four 
minutes.  The  infantry  followed  with  clock-like  precision.  Fierce 
hand-to-hand  fighting  occurred  in  Cantigny,  which  contained  a 
large  tunnel  and  a  number  of  caves.  The  Americans  hurled  hand 
grenades  like  baseballs  into  these  shelters. 

The  attack  had  been  carefully  planned  and  was  rehearsed 
by  the  infantry  with  the  tanks.  In  every  detail  it  was  under 
the  direction  of  the  Superior  French  Command,  to  whom  much  of 
the  credit  for  its  success  was  due.  The  news  of  the  American 
success  created  general  satisfaction  among  the  French  and  English 
troops.  The  operation,  of  course,  was  not  one  of  the  very  greatest 
importance.  It  was  a  sort  of  an  experiment,  but  coming  as  it  did, 
in  the  middle  of  the  great  German  Drive,  it  was  ominous.  America 
had  arrived. 

On  May  30th  General  Pershing  announced  the  complete  repulse 
of  further  enemy  attacks  from  the  new  American  positions  near 


550  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

Cantigny.  This  time  he  says:  "there  was  considerable  shelling 
with  gas,  but  the  results  obtained  were  very  small.  The  attempt 
was  a  complete  failure.  Our  casualties  were  very  light.  We  have 
consolidated  our  positions." 

The  London  Evening  News  commenting  on  this  fact  says: 
"Bravo  the  young  Americans!  Nothing  in  today's  battle  narrative 
from  the  front  is  more  exhilarating  than  the  account  of  their  fight 
at  Cantigny.  It  was  clean  cut  from  beginning  to  end,  like  one  of 
their  countrymen's  short  stories,  and  the  short  story  of  Cantigny 
is  going  to  expand  into  a  full-length  novel  which  will  write  the 
doom  of  the  Kaiser  and  Kaiserism.  Cantigny  will  one  day  be 
repeated  a  thousand  fold." 

The  Germans,  in  reporting  this  fight,  avoided  mention  of  the 
fact  that  the  operation  had  been  conducted  by  American  troops. 
This  seemed  to  indicate  that  they  feared  the  moral  effect  of  such 
an  admission  in  Germany.  Up  to  this  time,  with  the  exception  of 
small  brigades,  the  American  army  had  been  held  as  a  reserve. 
After  the  Cantigny  fight  they  were  hurried  to  the  front.  The  main 
point  to  which  they  were  sent  at  first  was  Chateau-Thierry,  north 
of  the  Marne,  the  nearest  point  to  Paris  reached  by  the  enemy. 
There,  at  the  very  critical  point  of  the  great  German  Drive,  they 
not  only  checked  the  enemy  but,  by  a  dashing  attack,  threw  him 
back. 

This  may  be  said  to  be  the  turning  point  in  the  whole  war. 
It  not  only  stopped  the  German  Drive  at  this  point,  but  it  gave 
new  courage  to  the  Allies  and  took  the  heart  out  of  the  Germans. 
The  troops  were  rushed  to  the  battle  front  at  Thierry,  arriving  on 
Saturday,  June  1st.  They  entered  the  battle  enthusiastically, 
almost  immediately  after  they  had  arrived.  A  despatch  from 
Picardy  says:  "On  their  way  to  the  battle  lines  they  were  cheered 
by  the  crowds  in  the  villages  through  wrhich  they  passed;  their 
victorious  stand  with  then*  gallant  French  Allies,  so  soon  after 
entering  the  line,  has  electrified  all  France." 

General  Pershing's  terse  account  of  what  happened  reads  as 
follows:  "In  the  fighting  northwest  of  Chateau-Thierry  our  troops 
broke  up  an  attempt  of  the  enemy  to  advance  to  the  south  through 
Veuilly  Woods,  and  by  a  counter-attack  drove  him  back  to  the  north 
of  the  woods." 

The  American  troops  had  gone  into  the  action  only  an  hour  or 


CHATEAU-THIERRY,  FIELD  OF  GLORY      551 

so  after  their  arrival  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Marne.  Scarcely 
had  they  alighted  from  their  motor  trucks  when  they  were  ordered 
into  Chateau-Thierry  with  a  battalion  of  French-Colonial  troops. 
The  enemy  were  launching  a  savage  drive,  and  at  first  succeeded 
in  driving  the  Americans  out  of  the  woods  of  Veuilly-la-Poterie. 
But  the  Americans  at  once  counter-attacked,  driving  their  oppo- 
nents from  then*  position,  and  regaining  possession  of  the  woods. 
On  the  same  day  the  Germans  launched  an  attack  of  shock  troops, 


WHERE  THE  "YANKS"  FOUGHT  THE  SECOND  BATTLE  OP  THE  MAKNB 

attempting  to  gain  a  passage  across  the  Marne  at  Jaulgonne. 
They  obtained  a  footing  on  the  southern  bank  but  another  Ameri- 
can counter-attack  forced  them  back  across  the  river.  The 
American  soldiers  were  fighting  with  wonderful  spirit,  and  the 
French  papers  were  filled  with  praise  of  their  work.  As  they  came 
up  to  go  into  the  line  they  were  singing,  and  they  charged,  cheering. 
On  June  6th  came  a  climax  of  the  American  fighting.  It  was 
the  attack  of  the  American  Marines  in  the  direction  of  Torcy. 
This  gained  more  than  two  miles  over  a  two  and  a  half  mile  front. 
On  the  next  day  the  advance  continued  over  a  front  of  nearly  six 


552  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

miles,  and  during  the  night  the  Americans  captured  Bouresches 
and  entered  Torcy. 

The  fighting  at  Torcy  was  characteristically  American;  the 
Marines  advanced  yelling  like  Indians,  using  bayonet  and  rifle. 
From  Torcy  the  Marines  set  forward  and  took  strong  ground  on 
either  side  of  Belleau  Wood.  They  had  reached  all  the  objectives 
and  pushed  beyond  them.  The  Germans  were  on  the  run,  and 
surrendering  right  and  left  to  the  Americans.  The  attack  by  the 
Marines  forestalled  an  attack  by  the  enemy.  German  reports 
now  noticed  the  Americans.  Then*  report  on  June  9th  referring 
to  this  attack,  says:  "Americans  who  attempted  to  attack  north- 
west of  Chateau-Thierry  were  driven  back  beyond  then-  positions 
of  departure  with  heavy  losses  and  prisoners  were  captured." 
The  Americans  had  lost  heavily,  and  the  hospitals  were  filled 
with  then*  wounded,  but  the  thorough  American  organization  was 
giving  the  wounded  every  care,  and  the  Americans  were  still 
moving  forward. 

On  June  the  10th,  another  attack  was  made  on  the  German 
lines  in  the  Belleau  Wood,  which  penetrated  for  about  two-thirds 
of  a  mile,  leaving  the  Germans  in  possession  of  only  the  northern 
fringe  of  the  Wood.  On  June  llth  the  official  statement  of  the 
French  War  Office  declared:  " South  of  the  Ourcq  River  the  Ameri- 
can troops  this  morning  brilliantly  captured  Belleau  Wood,  and 
took  three  hundred  prisoners." 

Belleau  Wood  had  been  considered  an  almost  impregnable 
position,  but  the  valiant  fighting  of  the  American  Marines  had 
carried  them  past  it.  Fighting  here  was  not  merely  a  series  of 
exciting  engagements,  but  an  important  action,  which  may  have 
turned,  and  very  probably  did  turn,  the  whole  tide  of  battle.  The 
Americans  put  three  German  divisions  out  of  business,  and  caused 
a  change  hi  the  German  plans,  by  preventing  an  extending  move- 
ment to  Meaux,  which  was  the  German  objective. 

From  this  tune  on  the  confidence  shown  in  all  reports  from  the 
Allies  in  France  was  strengthened.  They  had  found  that  the 
Americans  were  all  that  they  had  hoped  for,  and  they  were  sure 
now  that  they  could  hold  on  until  the  full  American  strength 
could  be  brought  to  bear.  General  Pershing  himself  was  full  of 
optimism  and  his  fine  example  stimulated  his  troops.  From  this 
time  on  all  dispatches  show  that  the  Americans  were  more  and 


CHATEAU-THIERRY,  FIELD  OF  GLORY      553 

more  getting  in  the  game.  Repeated  German  attacks  against 
their  forces,  on  the  Belleau-Bouresches  line  were  repulsed,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  crack  German  divisions,  who  had  been  picked 
especially  to  punish  them,  had  been  found  on  their  front.  It  was 
later  found  that  these  divisions  had  been  suddenly  ordered  to  that 
point  "in  order  to  prevent  at  all  costs  the  Americans  being  able 
to  achieve  success."  The  German  High  Command  was  apparently 
anxious  to  prevent  American  success  from  stimulating  the  morale 
of  the  Allied  army. 

During  the  rest  of  the  summer  the  Americans  took  an  active 
part  in  Foch's  great  offensive  which  ultimately  crushed  the  German 
army.  They  were  heard  from  at  widely  divergent  points:  in 
Alsace,  about  Chateau-Thierry,  at  Montdidier,  and  in  the  British 
lines. 

Most  of  the  fighting  during  June  indicated  a  slow  advance  at 
Chateau-Thierry.  On  June  19th  the  Americans  crossed  the  Marne, 
near  that  city.  But  Chateau-Thierry  itself  was  not  captured 
until  the  middle  of  July.  On  June  29th  they  participated  in  a 
raid  near  Montdidier  and  on  July  2d  captured  Vaux.  In  the 
week  of  July  4th  news  came  of  American  success  in  the  Vosges. 
On  July  18th  they  advanced  close  to  Soissons.  On  August  3d 
the  Americans  captured  Fismes,  and  then  for  nearly  a  month 
made  little  actual  progress,  though  bitter  fighting  went  on  in  the 
country  around  Fismes  and  near  Soissons.  On  August  29th  after  a 
furious  battle  they  captured  the  plain  of  Juvigny,  north  of  Soissons. 

In  all  these  battles  the  Americans  were  doing  their  part  at 
difficult  points,  during  the  great  French  drive  which  was  clearing 
out  the  Marne  salient. 

On  the  12th  of  September,  the  first  American  army,  assisted 
by  certain  French  units,  and  under  the  direct  command  of  General 
Pershing,  launched  an  attack  against  the  St.  Mihiel  salient.  This 
was  the  most  important  operation  of  the  American  troops  in  the 
Great  War.  It  was  a  complete  success.  September  12th  was  the 
fourth  anniversary  of  the  establishment  of  the  salient,  which 
reached  out  from  the  German  line  in  the  direction  of  Verdun. 

The  attack  was  lighting  on  a  grand  scale,  and  that  such  an 
operation  should  be  intrusted  to  the  American  army  indicated  an 
entirely  new  phase  of  America's  participation  in  the  war.  It  was 
preceded  by  a  barrage  lasting  four  hours.  The  German  troops, 


554 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


though  probably  suspecting  that  such  an  attack  was  coming,  were 
nevertheless  surprised.  The  American  attack  was  on  the  southern 
leg  of  the  salient  along  a  distance  of  twelve  miles.  The  French 
attacked  on  the  western  side  from  a  front  of  eight  miles.  Each 
attack  was  eminently  successful.  On  the  southern  front  the  Ameri- 
cans reached  then-  first  objectives  at  some  points  an  hour  ahead  of 
schedule  tune.  Thiaucourt  was  captured  early  in  the  drive; 


AMERICAN  LIME 
HINPtHBURG  LINE.  ••••• 
OLD  BATTLE  LINE  •••• 
SHADED  TERRITORY  18  BOUND 
GERMAN  FRONTIER 


THE  GREAT  ST.  MIHIEL  SALIENT  ESTABLISHED  IN  1914  WAS  OBLITERATED 
BT  THE  AMERICANS  IN  SEPTEMBER,  1918 

later  the  Americans  gained  possession  of  Nonsard,  Pannes,  and 
Bouillonville. 

At  first  the  resistance  of  the  Germans,  without  being  tame, 
was  not  actually  stiff,  and  the  doughboys  were  able  to  sweep  toward 
the  second  line  of  any  position  without  difficulty.  There,  however, 
the  Germans  began  to  defend  themselves  sharply,  which  delayed, 
but  did  not  stop  the  American  advance.  The  attack  was  made 
in  two  waves  and  carried  the  American  forces  a  distance  of  about 
five  miles. 

The  next  day  the  attack  continued,  and  General  Pershing's 
dispatch  stated:  "In  the  St.  Mihiel  sector  we  have  achieved  further 


CHATEAU-THIERRY,  FIELD  OF  GLORY      555 

successes.  The  junction  of  our  troops  advancing  from  the  south 
of  the  sector  with  those  advancing  from  the  west  has  given  us 
possession  of  the  whole  salient  to  points  twelve  miles  northeast  of 
St.  Mihiel,  and  has  resulted  in  the  capture  of  many  prisoners. 
Forced  back  by  our  steady  advance  the  enemy  is  retiring,  and  is 
destroying  large  quantities  of  material  as  he  goes.  The  number  of 
prisoners  counted  has  risen  to  13,300.  Our  line  now  includes 
Herbeville,  Thillet,  Hattonville,  St.  Benoit,  Xammes,  Jaulny, 
Thiaucourt  and  Vieville." 

The  salient  was  wiped  out,  and  the  St.  Mihiel  front  reduced 
from  forty  to  twenty  miles.  Secretary  Newton  D.  Baker,  accom- 
panied by  Generals  Pershing  and  Pe"tain,  visited  St.  Mihiel  a  few 
hours  after  its  capture.  They  walked  through  the  streets  of  the 
city,  and  heard  many  stories  of  the  long  German  occupation. 

As  the  attack  proceeded  it  became  more  and  more  evident 
that  the  German  defense  had  lost  heart.  Thousands  of  them 
surrendered,  declaring  they  did  not  care  to  fight  any  more.  It 
was  also  noted  that  a  surprisingly  large  number  of  officers  were 
among  those  captured.  The  only  serious  resistance  was  to  the 
attack  south  of  Fresnes,  which  was  obviously  for  the  purpose  of 
protecting  the  German  retreat. 

The  first  American  regiment  stationed  hi  the  St.  Mihiel  sector 
was  the  370th  Infantry,  formerly  the  Eighth  Illinois,  a  Negro 
regiment  officered  entirely  by  soldiers  of  that  race.  This  regiment 
was  one  of  the  three  that  occupied  a  sector  at  Verdun  when  a 
penetration  there  by  the  Germans  would  have  been  disastrous  to 
the  Allied  cause. 

The  St.  Mihiel  salient  had  no  great  military  value  to  the  Ger- 
mans, and  was  probably  held  by  them  from  a  sentimental  motive. 
It  represented  the  desperate  efforts  made  by  the  Crown  Prince 
in  his  early  drive  against  Verdun.  Its  destruction,  however,  was 
of  great  importance  to  the  French.  It  was  not  only  a  removal  of 
a  menace  to  the  French  citizens  of  Verdun,  but  it  released  the  French 
armies  at  that  point  for  active  offensive  operation.  It  also  liber- 
ated the  railway  line  from  Verdun  to  Nancy,  which  was  of  the  utmost 
value  to  General  Pershing  and  the  French  armies  to  his  left.  It 
also  later  developed  that  the  French  command  regarded  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  St.  Mihiel  salient  as  the  corner  stone  of  a  great  encircling 
movement  aimed  at  the  German  fortress  of  Metz.  The  moral 


556 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


CHATEAU-THIERRY,  FIELD  OF  GLORY      557 

effect  of  its  reduction  was  also  notable  as  it  was  one  more  sign  of 
the  weakening  of  the  Germans. 

History  usually  concerns  itself  with  the  deeds  of  humanity 
in  the  mass  and  with  the  leaders  of  these  masses.  It  is  eminently 
fitting,  however,  that  this  history  should  record  the  impressions 
made  upon  the  mind  of  an  American  soldier  by  a  modern  battle. 
The  United  States  Government  singled  out  of  all  the  letters 
received  from  the  front,  that  written  by  Major  Robert  L.  Denig,  of 
Philadelphia,  to  his  wife.  The  letter  is  now  part  of  the  archives 
of  the  War  Department,  and  occupies  the  highest  place  of  literary 
honor  in  the  records  of  the  Marines.  It  describes  the  operation 
against  the  Germans  on  the  Marne  on  July  18th,  1918.  This  was 
the  counter-attack  led  by  the  Marines  which  broke  the  back  of 
the  German  invasion.  Major  Denig  wrote: 

The  day  before  we  left  for  this  big  push  we  had  a  most  interesting 
fight  between  a  fleet  of  German  planes  and  a  French  observation  balloon, 
right  over  our  heads.  We  saw  five  planes  circle  over  our  town,  then  put 
on,  what  we  thought  afterwards,  a  sham  fight.  One  of  them,  after  many 
fancy  stunts,  headed  right  for  the  balloon.  They  were  all  painted  with 
our  colors  except  one.  This  one  went  near  the  balloon.  One  kept  right 
on.  The  other  four  shot  the  balloon  up  with  incendiary  bullets.  The 
observers  jumped  into  then:  parachutes  just  as  the  outfit  went  up  in  a  mass 
of  flame. 

The  next  day  we  took  our  positions  at  various  places  to  wait  for 
camions  that  were  to  take  us  somewhere  in  France,  when  or  for  what 
purpose  we  did  not  know.  Wass  passed  me  at  the  head  of  his  company — 
we  made  a  date  for  a  party  on  our  next  leave.  He  was  looking  fine  and 
was  as  happy  as  could  be.  Then  Hunt,  Keyser  and  a  heap  of  others  went 
by.  I  have  the  battalion  and  Holcomb  the  regiment.  Our  turn  to 
en-buss  did  not  come  until  near  midnight. 

We  at  last  got  under  way  after  a  few  big  "sea  bags"  had  hit  nearby. 
Wilmer  and  I  led  in  a  touring  car.  We  went  at  a  good  clip  and  nearly  got 
ditched  in  a  couple  of  new  shell  holes.  Shells  were  falling  fast  by  now, 
and  as  the  tenth  truck  went  under  the  bridge  a  big  one  landed  near  with  a 
crash,  and  wounded  the  two  drivers,  killed  two  marines  and  wounded 
five  more.  We  did  not  know  it  at  the  time,  and  did  not  notice  anything 
wrong  till  we  came  to  a  crossroad  when  we  found  we  had  only  eleven 
cars  all  told.  We  found  the  rest  of  the  convoy  after  a  hunt,  but  even  then 
were  not  told  of  the  loss,  and  did  not  find  it  out  until  the  next  day. 

We  were  finally,  after  twelve  hours'  ride,  dumped  in  a  big  field  and 
after  a  few  hours'  rest  started  our  march.  It  was  hot  as  Hades  and  we 
had  had  nothing  to  eat  since  the  day  before.  We  at  last  entered  a  forest; 
troops  seemed  to  converge  on  it  from  all  points.  We  marched  some  six 


558  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

miles  in  the  forest,  a  finer  one  I  have  never  seen — deer  would  scamper 
ahead  and  we  could  have  eaten  one  raw.  At  10  that  night  without  food, 
we  lay  down  in  a  pouring  rain  to  sleep.  Troops  of  all  kinds  passed  us  in 
the  night — a  shadowy  stream,  over  a  half-million  men.  Some  French 
officers  told  us  that  they  had  never  seen  such  concentration  since  Verdun, 
if  then. 

The  next  day,  the  18th  of  July,  we  marched  ahead  through  a  jam 
of  troops,  trucks,  etc.,  and  came  at  last  to  a  ration  dump  where  we  fell  to 
and  ate  our  heads  off  for  the  first  time  in  nearly  two  days.  When  we 
left  there,  the  men  had  bread  stuck  on  their  bayonets.  I  lugged  a  ham. 
All  were  loaded  down. 

Here  I  passed  one  of  Wass'  lieutenants  with  his  hand  wounded.  He 
was  pleased  as  Punch  and  told  us  the  drive  was  on,  the  first  we  knew  of  it. 
I  then  passed  a  few  men  of  Hunt's  company,  bringing  prisoners  to  the 
rear.  They  had  a  colonel  and  his  staff.  They  were  well  dressed,  cleaned 
and  polished,  but  mighty  glum  looking. 

We  finally  stopped  at  the  far  end  of  the  forest  near  a  dressing  station, 
where  Holcomb  again  took  command.  This  station  had  been  a  big  fine 
stone  farm  but  was  now  a  complete  ruin — wounded  and  dead  lay  all 
about.  Joe  Murray  came  by  with  his  head  all  done  up — his  helmet  had 
saved  him.  The  Lines  had  gone  on  ahead  so  we  were  quite  safe.  Had  a 
fine  aero  battle  right  over  us.  The  stunts  that  those  planes  did  cannot  be 
described  by  me. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  we  advanced  again.  Our  route  lay  over  an 
open  field  covered  with  dead. 

We  lay  down  on  a  hillside  for  the  night  near  some  captured  German 
guns,  and  until  dark  I  watched  the  cavalry — some  four  thousand,  come 
up  and  take  positions. 

At  3.30  the  next  morning  Sitz  woke  me  up  and  said  we  were  to  attack. 
The  regiment  was  soon  under  way  and  we  picked  our  way  under  cover  of 
a  gas  infested  valley  to  a  town  where  we  got  our  final  instructions  and 
left  our  packs.  I  wished  Sumner  good  luck  and  parted. 

We  formed  up  in  a  sunken  road  on  two  sides  of  a  valley  that  was 
perpendicular  to  the  enemy's  front;  Hughes  right,  Holcomb  left,  Sibley 
support.  We  now  began  to  get  a  few  wounded;  one  man  with  ashen 
face  came  charging  to  the  rear  with  shell  shock.  He  shook  all  over,  foamed 
at  the  mouth,  could  not  speak.  I  put  him  under  a  tent,  and  he  acted  as 
if  he  had  a  fit. 

I  heard  Overton  call  to  one  of  his  friends  to  send  a  certain  pin  to 
his  mother  if  he  should  get  hit. 

At  8.30  we  jumped  off  with  a  line  of  tanks  in  the  lead.  For  two 
"kilos"  the  four  lines  of  Marines  were  as  straight  as  a  die,  and  their 
advance  over  the  open  plain  in  the  bright  sunlight  was  a  picture  I  shall 
never  forget.  The  fire  got  hotter  and  hotter,  men  fell,  bullets  sung, 
shells  whizzed-banged  and  the  dust  of  battle  got  thick.  Overton  was  hit 
by  a  big  piece  of  shell  and  fell.  Afterwards  I  heard  he  was  hit  in  the 


CHATEAU-THIERRY,  FIELD   OF  GLORY      559 

heart,  so  his  death  was  without  pain.  He  was  buried  that  night  and  the 
pin  found. 

A  man  near  me  Was  cut  in  two.  Others  when  hit  would  stand,  it 
seemed,  an  hour,  then  fall  in  a  heap.  I  yelled  to  Wilmer  that  each  gun 
in  the  barrage  worked  from  right  to  left,  then  a  rabbit  ran  ahead  and  I 
watched  him  wondering  if  he  would  get  hit.  Good  rabbit — it  took  my 
mind  off  the  carnage.  Looked  for  Hughes  way  over  to  the  right;  told 
Wilmer  that  I  had  a  hundred  dollars  and  be  sure  to  get  it.  You  think  all 
kinds  of  things. 

About  sixty  Germans  jumped  out  of  a  trench  and  tried  to  surrender, 
but  their  machine  guns  opened  up,  we  fired  back,  they  ran  and  our  left 
company  after  them.  That  made  a  gap  that  had  to  be  filled,  so  Sibley 
advanced  one  of  his  to  do  the  job,  then  a  shell  lit  in  a  machine-gun  crew 
of  ours  and  cleaned  it  out  completely. 

At  10.30  we  dug  in — the  attack  just  died  out.  I  found  a  hole  or  old 
trench  and  when  I  was  flat  on  my  back  I  got  some  protection.  Holcomb 
wa^  next  me;  Wilmer  some  way  off.  We  then  tried  to  get  reports.  Two 
companies  we  never  could  get  in  touch  with.  Lloyd  came  in  and  reported 
he  was  holding  some  trenches  near  a  mill  with  six  men.  Gates,  with  his 
trousers  blown  off,  said  he  had  sixteen  men  of  various  companies;  another 
officer  on  the  right  reported  he  had  and  could  see  forty  men,  all  told.  That, 
with  the  headquarters,  was  all  we  could  find  out  about  the  battalion  of 
nearly  800.  Of  the  twenty  company  officers  who  went  in,  three  came  out, 
and  one,  Gates,  was  slightly  wounded. 

From  then  on  to  about  8  p.  M.  life  was  a  chance  and  mighty  uncom- 
fortable. It  was  hot  as  a  furnace,  no  water,  and  they  had  our  range 
to  a  "T."  Three  men  lying  in  a  shallow  trench  near  me  were  blown  to  bits. 

I  went  to  the  left  of  the  line  and  found  eight  wounded  men  in  a  shell 
hole.  I  went  back  to  Gates'  hole  and  three  shells  landed  near  them.  We 
thought  they  were  killed,  but  they  were  not  hit.  You  could  hear  men 
calling  for  help  in  the  wheat  fields.  Their  cries  would  get  weaker  and 
weaker  and  die  out.  The  German  planes  were  thick  in  the  air;  they  were 
in  groups  of  from  three  to  twenty.  They  would  look  us  over  and  then  we 
would  get  a  pounding.  One  of  our  planes  got  shot  down;  he  fell  about 
a  thousand  feet,  like  an  arrow,  and  hit  in  the  field  back  of  us.  The  tank 
exploded  and  nothing  was  left. 

We  had  a  machine  gun  officer  with  us  and  at  six  a  runner  came  up 
and  reported  that  Sumner  was  killed.  He  commanded  the  machine-gun 
company  with  us.  He  was  hit  early  in  the  fight  by  a  bullet, I  hear;  lean 
get  no  details.  At  the  start  he  remarked:  "This  looks  easy — they  do 
not  seem  to  have  much  art."  Hughes'  headquarters  were  all  shot  up. 
Turner  lost  a  leg. 

Well,  we  just  lay  there  all  through  the  hot  afternoon. 

It  was  great — a  shell  would  land  near  by  and  you  would  bounce  in 
your  hole. 

As  twilight  came,  we  sent  out  water  parties  for  the  relief  of  the 


560  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

wounded.  Then  we  wondered  if  we  would  get  relieved.  At  9  o'clock  we 
got  a  message  congratulating  us  and  saying  the  Algerians  would  take  over 
at  midnight.  We  then  began  to  collect  our  wounded.  Some  had  been 
evacuated  during  the  day,  but  at  that,  we  soon  had  about  twenty  on  the 
field  near  us.  A  man  who  had  been  blinded  wanted  me  to  hold  his  hand. 
Another,  wounded  in  the  back,  wanted  his  head  patted,  and  so  it  went; 
one  man  got  up  on  his  hands  and  knees.  I  asked  him  what  he  wanted. 
He  said,  "Look  at  the  full  moon,"  then  fell  dead.  I  had  him  buried,  and 
all  the  rest  I  could  find.  All  the  time  bullets  sung  and  we  prayed  that 
shelling  would  not  start  until  we  had  our  wounded  on  top. 

The  Algerians  came  up  at  midnight  and  we  pushed  out.  They  went 
over  at  daybreak  and  got  all  shot  up.  We  made  the  relief  under  German 
flares  and  the  light  from  a  burning  town. 

We  went  out  as  we  came,  through  the  gulley  and  town,  the  latter  by 
now  all  in  ruins.  The  place  was  full  of  gas,  so  we  had  to  wear  our  masks. 
We  pushed  on  to  the  forest  and  fell  down  in  our  tracks  and  slept  all  day. 
That  afternoon  a  German  plane  got  a  balloon  and  the  observer  jumped 
and  landed  in  a  high  tree.  It  was  some  job  getting  him  down.  The 
wind  came  up  and  we  had  to  dodge  falling  trees  and  branches.  As  it  was, 
we  lost — two  killed  and  one  wounded  from  that  cause. 

That  night  the  Germans  shelled  us  and  got  three  killed  and  seventeen 
wounded.  We  moved  a  bit  further  back  to  the  crossroad  and  after  burying 
a  few  Germans,  some  of  whom  showed  signs  of  having  been  wounded  before, 
we  settled  down  to  a  short  stay. 

It  looked  like  rain,  and  so  Wilmer  and  I  went  to  an  old  dressing 
station  to  salvage  some  cover.  We  collected  a  lot  of  bloody  shelter  halves 
and  ponchos  that  had  been  tied  to  poles  to  make  stretchers,  and  were  about 
to  go,  when  we  stopped  to  look  at  a  new  grave.  A  rude  cross  made  of 
two  slats  from  a  box  had  written  on  it: 

"Lester  S.  Wass,  Captain  U.  S.  Marines,  July  18,  1918" 

The  old  crowd  at  St.  Nazaire  and  Bordeaux,  Wass  and  Sumner  killed, 
Baston  and  Hunt  wounded,  the  latter  on  the  18th,  a  clean  wound,  I  hear, 
through  the  left  shoulder.  We  then  moved  further  to  the  rear  and  camped 
for  the  night.  Dunlap  came  to  look  us  over.  His  car  was  driven  by  a 
sailor  who  got  out  to  talk  to  a  few  of  the  marines,  when  one  of  the  latter 
yelled  out,  "Hey,  fellows!  Anyone  want  to  see  a  real  live  gob,  right  this 
way."  The  gob  held  a  regular  reception.  A  carrier  pigeon  perched  on  a 
tree  with  a  message.  We  decided  to  shoot  him.  It  was  then  quite  dark,  so 
the  shot  missed.  I  then  heard  the  following  as  I  tried  to  sleep:  "Hell; 
he  only  turned  around;"  "Send  up  a  flare;"  "Call  for  a  barrage," etc. 
The  next  day  further  to  the  rear  still,  a  Ford  was  towed  by  with  its  front 
wheels  on  a  truck. 

We  are  now  back  in  a  town  for  some  rest  and  to  lick  our  wounds. 

As  I  rode  down  the  battalion,  where  once  companies  250  strong  used 
to  march,  now  you  see  fifty  men,  with  a  kid  second  lieutenant  in  command; 
one  company  commander  is  not  yet  twenty-one. 


CHATEAU-THIERRY,  FIELD   OF  GLORY      561 

After  the  last  attack  I  cashed  in  the  gold  you  gave  me  and  sent  it 
home  along  with  my  back  pay.  I  have  no  idea  of  being  "bumped  off" 
with  money  on  my  person,  as  if  you  fall  into  the  enemy's  hands  you  are 
first  robbed,  then  buried  perhaps,  but  the  first  is  sure. 

Baston,  the  lieutenant  that  went  to  Quantico  with  father  and  myself, 
and  of  whom  father  took  some  pictures,  was  wounded  in  both  legs  in  the 
Bois  de  Belleau.  He  nearly  lost  his  legs,  I  am  told,  but  is  coming  out  O.  K. 
Hunt  was  wounded  in  the  last  attack,  got  his  wounds  fixed  up  and  went 
back  again  till  he  had  to  be  sent  out.  Coffenburg  was  hit  in  the  hand, — all 
near  him  were  killed.  Talbot  was  hit  twice,  but  is  about  again.  That 
accounts  for  all  the  officers  in  the  company  that  I  brought  over.  In  the 
first  fight  103  of  the  men  in  that  outfit  were  killed  or  wounded.  The 
second  fight  must  have  about  cleaned  out  the  old  crowd. 

The  tanks,  as  they  crushed  their  way  through  the  wet,  gray  forest 
looked  to  me  like  beasts  of  the  pre-stone  age. 

In  the  afternoon  as  I  lay  on  my  back  in  a  hole  that  I  dug  deeper,  the 
dark  gray  German  planes  with  their  sinister  black  crosses,  looked  like 
Death  hovering  above.  They  were  for  many.  Sumner,  for  one.  He  was 
always  saying,  "Denig,  let's  go  ashore!"  Then  here  was  Wass,  whom  I 
usually  took  dinner  with — dead,  too.  Sumner,  Wass,  Baston  and  Hunt — 
the  old  crowd  that  stuck  together;  two  dead,  one  may  never  be  any 
good  any  more;  Hunt,  I  hope,  will  be  as  good  as  as  ever. 

The  officers  mentioned  in  Major  Denig's  letter,  with  their 
addresses  and  next  of  kin,  are: 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Berton  W.  Sibley;  Harriet  E.  Sibley, 
mother;  Essex  Junction,  Vt. 

First  Lieutenant  Clifton  B.  Gates;  Mrs.  Willis  J.  Gates, 
mother;  Tiptonville,  Tenn. 

First  Lieutenant  Horace  Talbot,  no  next  of  kin;  Woonsocket, 
R.I. 

Captain  Arthur  H.  Turner;  Charles  S.  Turner,  father,  188 
West  River  St.,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa. 

Captain  Bailey  Metcalf  Coffenberg;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Coffen- 
berg,  30  Jackson  St.,  Staten  Island,  N.  Y. 

Captain  Albert  Preston  Baston;  Mrs.  Ora  Z.  Baston,  mother; 
Pleasant  Avenue,  St.  Louis  Park,  Minn. 

Captain  Lester  Sherwood  Wass;  L.  A.  Wass,  father,  Glouces- 
ter, Mass. 

Captain  Allen  M.  Sumner;  Mrs.  Mary  M.  Sumner,  wife; 
1824  S  Street,  N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Thomas  Holcomb;  Mrs.  Thomas  Hoi- 
comb,  wife,  1535  New  Hampshire  Avenue,  Washington,  D.  C. 


562  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Second  Lieutenant  John  Laury  Hunt;  Etta  Newman,  sister; 
Gillet,  Texas. 

Captain  Walter  H.  Sitz;  Emil  H.  Sitz,  father;  Davenport, 
Iowa. 

First  Lieutenant  John  W.  Overton,  son  of  J.  M.  Overton,  901 
Stahlman  Building,  Nashville,  Term. 

Major  Egbert  T.  Lloyd;  Mrs.  E.  T.  Lloyd,  wife;  4900  Cedar 
Avenue,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Major  Ralph  S.  Keyser;  Charles  E.  Keyser,  father;  Thor- 
oughfare, Va. 

Captain  Pere  Wilmer;  Mrs.  Alice  Emory  Wilmer,  mother; 
Centreville,  Md. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  John  A.  Hughes;  Mrs.  A.  J.  Hughes, 
wife,  care  of  Rear-Admiral  William  Parks,  Post  Office  Building, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Lieutenant  Overton  was  the  famous  Yale  athlete,  the  inter- 
collegiate one-mile  champion. 


CHAPTER  XLIII 
ENGLAND  AND  FRANCE  STRIKE  IN  THE  NORTH 

UP  TO  July  18,  1918,  the  Allied  armies  in  France  had  been 
steadily  on  the  defensive,  but  on  that  date  the  tide  turned. 
General  Foch,  who  had  been  yielding  territory  for  several 
months  in  the  great  German  drives,  now  assumed  the 
offensive  himself  and  began  the  series  of  great  drives  which  was  to 
crush  the  German  power  and  drive  the  enemy  in  defeat  headlong 
from  France. 

The  first  of  these  great  blows  was  the  one  which  began  with  the 
appearance  of  the  Americans  at  Chateau-Thierry.  The  Germans 
had  formed  a  huge  salient  whose  eastern  extremity  lay  near  Rheims, 
and  its  western  extremity  west  of  Soissons.  It  was  like- ft  great 
pocket  reaching  down  in  the  direction  of  Paris  from  tKbse  two 
points.  Against  this  salient  the  French  and  Americans  had  directed 
a  tremendous  thrust.  The  Germans  resisted  with  desperation. 
It  was  the  turning  point  of  the  war,  but  they  were  compelled  to 
yield.  Town  after  town  was  regained  by  the  French  and  American 
troops,  until,  by  August  5th,  the  Crown  Prince  had  been  driven  from 
the  Marne  to  the  Vesle,  and  the  salient  obliterated. 

On  August  7th  General  Foch  delivered  his  second  blow.  During 
the  fighting  on  the  Marne  it  had  often  been  wondered  by  those  who 
were  observing  the  great  French  general's  strategy,  why  the  British 
seemed  to  make  no  move.  Occasionally  there  had  been  reports  of 
minor  assaults,  either  on  the  Lys  salient,  far  north,  or  on  the  Somme 
and  Montdidier  sectors,  lying  between.  It  had  not  been  noticed 
that  in  these  minor  assaults  the  English  had  been  obtaining  positions 
of  strategic  importance,  and  that  they  were  steadily  getting  ready 
for  an  English  offensive. 

But  their  time  had  now  come,  and  on  August  7th  the  armies 
of  Sir  Douglas  Haig  began  an  attack  against  the  armies  of  Prince 
Rupprecht  on  the  Lys  salient.  This  was  followed,  on  August  8th, 
by  another  still  greater  Allied  advance  in  Picardy,  between  Albert 
and  Montdidier. 

563 


564  HISTORY   OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

Both  of  these  attacks  met  with  notable  success.  On  the  Lys 
salient  the  English  penetrated  a  distance  of  one  thousand  yards 
over  a  four-mile  front,  and  followed  up  this  advance  by  persistent 
attacks  which  led  to  the  reoccupation,  on  August  19th,  of  Merville, 
and  on  August  31st,  of  Mont  Kemmel.  On  this  front  the  Germans 
had  weakened  their  strength  by  withdrawing  troops  to  aid  other 
parts  of  then*  front,  and  the  British  were  constantly  taking 
advantage  of  this  weakening. 

The  Germans  had  found  this  salient  a  failure.  It  had  failed 
to  attain  its  objective,  the  flanking  of  the  Lens  line  south.  They 
therefore  were  steadily  retreating  without  any  intention  other  than 
to  extricate  themselves  from  positions  of  no  value,  hi  the  most 
economical  manner.  The  quick  operations  of  the  British,  however, 
led  to  the  capture  of  many  prisoners  and  guns. 

The  English  offensive  in  Picardy  was  a  more  serious  matter, 
and  from  some  points  of  view  was  the  greatest  offensive  in  the  war. 
The  Allied  front  had  been  prepared  for  offensive  operations  by 
minor  attacks  which  had  secured  for  the  Allied  troops  dominating 
positions.  The  attack  was  a  surprise  attack.  The  Germans  were 
expecting  local  attacks  but  not  a  movement  of  this  magnitude. 
The  surprise  was  increased  because  it  was  made  through  a  heavy 
mist  which  prevented  observation.  It  was  preceded  by  tremendous 
artillery  fire  which  lasted  for  four  minutes,  and  which  was  followed 
by  the  charge  of  infantry  and  tanks.  The  German  artillery  hardly 
replied  at  all,  and  only  the  resistance  of  a  few  rifles  and  machine 
guns  fired  vaguely  through  the  fog  met  the  charging  troops. 

The  attack  was  on  a  twenty-five-mile  front  and  on  the  first 
day  gained  seven  miles,  captured  seven  thousand  men  and  a  hundred 
guns.  On  the  following  day  there  was  an  advance  of  about  five 
miles  and  seventeen  thousand  more  prisoners  were  captured. 

The  Germans  were  now  retiring  in  great  haste,  blowing  up 
ammunition  dumps  and  abandoning  an  enormous  quantity  of 
stores  of  all  kinds.  The  English  were  using  cavalry  and  airplanes, 
which  were  flying  low  over  the  field  and  throwing  the  German  troops 
into  confusion.  Over  three  hundred  guns,  including  many  of 
heavy  caliber,  were  captured.  The  ground  had  been  plowed  up  by 
shells  and  thousands  of  bodies  of  men  and  horses  were  found  lying 
where  they  fell.  A  feature  of  the  attack  was  the  swift  whippet 
tanks  which  advanced  far  ahead  of  the  infantry  lines. 


mm  m 


.sJtt*  h       * 

, 


ENGLAND  AND  FRANCE   STRIKE  567 

In  the  French  official  report  occurred  the  following  statement: 

"The  brilliant  operation  which  we,  in  concert  with  British 
troops,  executed  yesterday  has  been  a  surprise  for  the  enemy. 
As  occurred  in  the  offensive  of  July  18th  the  soldiers  of  General 
Debeney  have  captured  enemy  soldiers  engaged  in  the  peaceful 
pursuit  of  harvesting  the  fields  behind  the  German  lines." 

By  August  10th  the  Germans  had  fallen  back  to  a  line  running 
through  Chaulnes  and  Roye.  Montdidier  had  been  captured,  and 
eleven  German  divisions  had  been  smashed.  By  August  12th  the 
number  of  prisoners  was  40,000,  and  by  the  18th  the  Allied  front 
was  almost  hi  the  same  line  as  it  was  in  the  summer  of  1916,  before 
the  battle  of  the  Somme. 

The  next  step  was  to  capture  Bapaume  and  Peronne.  The 
French,  on  August  19th,  captured  the  Lassigny  Massif,  and  con- 
tinued to  press  on  their  attack.  Noyon  fell  on  the  29th,  Roye  on 
the  27th,  Chaulnes  on  the  29th.  Further  north  the  British  had 
captured  Albert,  and  on  the  29th  occupied  Bapaume.  On  Septem- 
ber 1st  they  took  Peronne  with  two  thousand  prisoners. 

The  advance  still  continued,  and  the  German  weakness  was 
becoming  more  and  more  apparent.  On  September  6th  the  whole 
Allied  line  swept  forward,  with  an  average  penetration  of  eight 
miles.  Chauny  was  captured  and  the  fortress  of  Ham.  On 
September  17th  the  British  were  close  to  St.  Quentin  and  the 
French  in  then*  own  old  intrenchments  before  La  Fere.  On 
September  18th  a  surprise  advance  over  a  twenty-two-mile  front 
crossed  the  Hindenburg  line  at  two  points  north  of  St.  Quentin, 
Villeret  and  from  Pontru  to  Hollom. 

The  first  and  third  British  armies,  a  little  further  to  the  north, 
were  moving  toward  Cambrai  and  Douai,  threatening  not  only 
them,  but  to  get  in  the  rear  of  Lens.  This  force  proceeded  up  the 
Albert-Bapaume  highway,  and  on  August  27th  captured  a  consid- 
erable portion  of  the  Hindenburg  line.  On  the  30th  they  reached 
Bullecourt  and  on  September  2d  crossed  the  Drocourt-Queant 
line  on  a  six-mile  front.  This  was  the  famous  switch  line,  meant  to 
supplement  the  Hindenburg  line  and  its  capture  meant  the  complete 
overthrow  of  the  German  intrenched  positions  at  this  point. 

The  Germans  retreated  hastily  to  the  Canal  du  Nord,  and  on 
September  3d  Queant  was  captured  by  an  advance  on  a  twenty- 
mile  front,  along  with  ten  thousand  prisoners.  The  Allied  forces 


568  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 


ENGLAND   AND   FRANCE   STRIKE  569 

were  moving  steadily  forward.  On  September  18th  the  British 
reached  the  defenses  of  Cambrai  and  were  encircling  the  city  of 
St.  Quentin.  On  October  3d  the  advance  upon  Cambrai  forced  the 
Germans  to  evacuate  the  Lens  coal  fields,  and  on  October  9th 
another  advance  over  a  thirty-mile  front  enabled  the  Allies  to 
occupy  Cambrai  and  St.  Quentin.  On  the  llth  they  had  reached 
the  suburbs  of  Douai.  By  this  time  the  whole  of  the  Picardy 
salient  had  been  wiped  out. 

The  preceding  summary  of  this  great  movement  gives  little 
idea  of  the  tremendous  struggle  which  had  gone  on  during  these 
two  critical  months,  and  hardly  does  more  than  suggest  the  tre- 
mendous importance  of  the  British  operations.  The  Hindenburg 
line  was  like  a  great  fortification,  and  for  more  than  a  year  had 
been  regarded  as  impregnable.  At  Bullecourt  there  were  two 
mam  lines.  One  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards  hi  front  of  the 
first  line  was  a  belt  of  wire  twenty-five  feet  broad,  so  thick  that  it 
could  not  be  seen  through.  The  line  itself  contained  double 
machine-gun  emplacements  of  ferro-concrete,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  yards  apart,  with  lesser  emplacements  between  them. 
More  belts  of  wire  protected  the  support  line.  Here  a  continuous 
tunnel  had  been  constructed  at  a  depth  of  over  forty  feet.  Every 
thirty-five  yards  there  were  exits  with  flights  of  forty-five  steps. 
The  tunnels  were  roofed  and  lined  and  bottomed  with  heavy  timber, 
and  numerous  rooms  branched  off.  They  were  lighted  by  electricity. 
Large  nine-inch  trench  mortars  stood  at  the  traverses  and  strong 
machine-gun  positions  covered  the  line  from  behind. 

The  Hindenburg  line  was  really  only  one  of  a  series  of  twenty 
lines,  each  connected  with  the  others  by  communicating  trenches. 
The  main  lines  were  solid  concrete,  separated  by  an  unending  vista 
of  wire  entanglements.  At  points  this  barrier  barbed  wire  extended 
in  solid  formation  for  ten  miles.  This  tremendous  system  of 
defenses  was  originally  called  by  the  Germans  the  Siegfried  line, 
and  hi  the  spring  of  1917  they  found  it  wise,  at  points  where  a 
strong  offensive  was  expected,  to  fall  back  to  it  for  protection. 
It  had  been  their  hope  that  it  would  prove  an  impassable  barrier 
to  the  Allied  troops,  but  now  it  had  been  broken,  and  the  moral 
effect  of  the  British  success  was  even  greater  than  the  material. 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  results  of  the  British  advance  had 
been  the  capture  of  Lens.  It  had  been  captured  without  a  fight, 


570  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

because  of  the  British  threat  upon  its  rear,  but  its  capture  was  of 
tremendous  importance.  Lens  had  been  the  scene  of  bitter  fighting 
hi  the  latter  part  of  August,  1917,  when  the  Canadians  had  specially 
distinguished  themselves.  This  city  had  been  heavily  fortified  by 
the  Germans  who  had  recognized  its  importance  as  being  the 
center  of  the  great  Lens  coal  fields,  and  they  had  never  given  it  up. 
It  had  sometimes  been  described  as  the  strongest  single  position 
that  had  ever  confronted  the  Allies  on  the  western  front.  It  had 
been  made  a  sort  of  citadel  of  reinforced  concrete.  Even  the 
courage  and  power  of  the  Canadians  had  only  given  them  possession 
of  some  of  its  suburbs.  Between  these  suburbs  and  the  concrete 
citadel  were  the  coal  pits,  with  their  fathomless  depths  of  ages  and 
the  mysteries  of  kultural  strategy.  The  struggle  became  a 
succession  of  avalanches  of  gas,  burning  oil,  rifle  and  machine-gun 
fire.  Both  sides  lost  terrifically,  but  the  Germans  had  held  the 
town.  Now  it  was  given  up  without  a  blow  and  its  great  coal 
fields  were  once  more  hi  possession  of  the  French.  Before  retreat- 
ing the  Germans  showed  their  usual  destructive  energy  and  the 
mines  were  found  flooded  as  a  result  of  consistent  and  scientific 
use  of  dynamite. 

The  recapture  of  Lens  was  cheering  news  in  Paris.  Not  the 
least  of  the  many  sufferings  of  the  French  during  the  last  two 
years  of  the  war  was  that  which  came  from  the  scarcity  of  coal. 
Indeed,  more  than  once  during  those  two  winters  coal  could  not 
be  obtained  at  any  price.  These  periods  unfortunately  came  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  winter,  and  it  happened  they  were  unusual 
periods  of  intense  cold.  Thousands  of  people  stayed  hi  bed  all  day 
hi  order  to  keep  warm.  The  capture  of  Lens,  therefore,  had  been 
anxiously  desired.  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  French  coal  supply 
had  come  from  Lens  and  the  adjacent  Bethune  coal  fields.  The 
Bethune  field,  although  steadily  working,  had  never  produced 
enough  coal  for  even  the  pressing  necessities  of  the  French  munition 
works. 

The  news  that  Bapaume  had  fallen  on  August  29th  brought 
back,  especially  to  the  British,  memories  not  only  of  the  previous 
year  and  of  the  great  forward  movement  which,  on  March  17th, 
had  swept  them  over  Bapaume  and  Peronne,  but  also  bitter  memo- 
ries of  the  retreat  in  the  previous  March,  which  had  carried  them 
back  under  the  overwhelming  German  pressure.  The  capture 


ENGLAND  AND   FRANCE   STRIKE  571 

therefore  was  balm  to  their  spirits,  and  an  English  correspondent, 
Mr.  Philip  Gibbs,  who  had  accompanied  the  British  on  their  previous 
advance,  found  officers  and  men  full  of  laughter  and  full  of 
memories. 

On  all  sides  were  the  battle-fields  of  1916  and  1917;  Mametz 
Wood,  Belleville  Wood,  Usna  Hill,  Ginchy,  Morval,  Guillemont. 
The  fields  were  covered  with  battle  debris,  and  yet  to  the  English 
it  was  sacred  ground  from  the  graves  of  the  men  who  fell  there. 
Those  graves  still  remained.  The  British  shell  fire  had  not  touched 
them,  but  as  the  English  advanced  there  were  many  bodies  of 
gray-clad  men  on  the  roads  and  fields,  and  dead  horses,  and  a 
litter  of  barbed  wire,  and  deep  shelters  dug  under  banks,  and  shell 
craters,  and  helmets,  gas  masks,  and  rifles  thrown  here  and  there 
by  the  enemy  as  they  fled.  Now  it  was  the  Germans  that  were 
fleeing,  and  fleeing  hopelessly,  sullen,  bitter  at  their  officers, 
impatient  of  discipline. 

One  of  the  great  differences  between  the  attacks  of  the  Allies  in 
then"  last  year  of  the  war  and  those  of  preceding  years,  was  the 
increased  use  and  the  improved  character  of  the  tanks.  The  tanks 
were  a  development  of  the  war.  Before  the  war,  however,  the 
development  of  the  caterpillar  tractor  had  suggested  to  a  few  far- 
sighted  people  the  possibility  of  evolving  from  this  invention  a 
machine  capable  of  offensive  use  over  rough  country  in  close 
warfare.  Experiments  were  made  in  behalf  of  the  English  War 
Office  for  some  time  without  practical  results. 

At  last,  after  these  experiments  had  resulted  hi  various  failures, 
a  type  of  tractor  was  finally  designed  which  produced  satisfactory 
results.  It  was  a  caterpillar  tractor,  with  an  endless  self -laid  track, 
over  which  internal  driving  wheels  could  be  propelled  by  the 
engines.  It  was  not  until  July,  1916,  that  the  first  consignment  of 
these  new  engines  of  warfare  arrived  at  the  secret  maneuver  ground. 

There  were  two  kinds.  One  called  the  male  was  armed  with 
two  Hotchkiss  quick-fire  guns,  as  well  as  with  an  armament  of 
machine  guns.  The  other  type,  called  the  female,  was  armed  only 
with  machine  guns.  The  male  tank  was  designed  for  dealing  with 
the  concrete  emplacements  for  the  German  machine  guns.  The 
other  was  more  suitable  for  dealing  with  machine-gun  personnel 
and  riflemen.  Some  time  was  taken  in  training  men  to  use  these 
tanks,  for  the  crew  of  a  tank  must  suffer  a  great  deal  of  hardship; 


572  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

on  account  of  the  noise  of  the  engine  every  command  had  to  be 
made  by  signs,  and  the  motion  of  the  tank  being  like  that  of  a  ship 
on  a  heavy  sea,  was  likely  to  produce  seasickness. 

The  tanks  were  painted  with  weird  colors  for  the  purpose  of 
concealment,  and  when  they  first  appeared  caused  a  great  deal  of 
wonder  and  amusement.  They  were  first  used  in  battle  on  Septem- 
ber 15,  1916,  in  a  continuation  of  the  battle  of  the  Somme,  and 
proved  a  great  surprise  to  the  Germans.  The  Germans  directed 
all  available  rifle  and  machine-gun  fire  upon  them  without  success. 
A  correspondent  narrates  that  :  "As  the  'Creme  de  Menthe'  moved 
on  its  way,  the  bullets  fell  from  its  sides  harmlessly.  It  advanced 
upon  a,  broken  wall,  leaned  up  against  it  heavily,  until  it  fell  with 
a  crasfi  of  bricks,  and  then  rose  on  to  the  bricks  and  passed  over 
them  and  walked  straight  into  the  midst  of  factory  rums."  They 
were  an  immense  success  and  had  come  to  stay. 


CHAPTER  XLIV 

BELGIUM'S  GALLANT  EFFORT 

FOR  more  than  four  years  Belgium  suffered  under  the  iron 
heel  of  the  German  invaders.  One  little  corner  in  the  far 
west  was  occupied  by  her  gallant  army,  fighting  with  the 
utmost  courage  and  a  patriotism  which  has  won  the  admira- 
tion of  the  world  under  its  great  King  Albert,  whose  heroic-  leader- 
ship had  turned  the  little  commercial  nation  into  a  nation  of  heroes. 
Conditions  of  life  in  the  Belgian  cities  were  almost  intolerable. 
The  great  Belgian  Relief  Commission,  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Hoover,  had  kept  the  people  from  starvation,  but  it  could  not 
secure  them  their  rights.  They  lived  in  the  midst  of  brutality  and 
injustice. 

On  Belgian  Independence  Day  at  London,  Arthur  J.  Balfour, 
the  British  Foreign  Minister,  made  an  address  in  which  he  com- 
mented upon  the  German  treatment  of  Belgium.  In  the  course 
of  his  address  he  said:  "Bitter  must  be  the  thought  hi  every  Belgian 
heart  of  what  Belgians  in  Belgium  are  now  suffering.  Let  them 
however,  take  courage.  Let  their  spirits  rise  hi  a  mood  of  profound 
cheerfulness,  for  these  dark  days  are  not  going  to  last  forever, 
and  when  they  come  to  a  conclusion,  when  again  peace  dawns 
upon  this  much  tormented  and  cruelly  tried  world,  when  Belgium 
is  again  free  and  prosperous,  then  Belgians,  whether  they  have 
spent  these  unhappy  years  in  exile,  or,  an  even  harder  fate,  have 
spent  them  in  their  own  country,  they  will  be  able  to  look  back 
upon  this  tune  of  cruel  and  unexampled  trial,  and  they  will  say  to 
themselves,  to  their  children  and  to  their  descendants,  that  Belgium, 
though  her  existence  as  a  political  entity  is  less  than  a  century, 
has  within  that  period  shown  an  example  of  courage,  constancy 
and  virtue  to  mankind  for  which  all  the  world  should  be  grateful." 

The  English  Foreign  Minister  was  perhaps  not  prophesying. 
He  knew  something  of  what  was  coming.  The  Great  Offensive 
which  was  to  free  Belgium  of  her  German  oppressor  was  already 
under  way.  The  first  move,  however,  was  not  upon  land,  but 

573 


574  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

upon  the  sea.  In  the  autumn  of  1914  the  little  Belgian  port  of 
Zeebrugge,  with  the  neighboring  port  of  Ostend,  was  captured 
by  the  Germans.  The  Germans,  who  had  already  seized  the  ship- 
building plants  at  Antwerp,  then  began  to  build  submarines,  and 
sent  them  down  the  canals  through  Bruges  to  Zeebrugge  and 
Ostend.  From  these  ports  they  proceeded  to  attack  the  English 
commerce. 

In  the  spring  of  1918  submarine  attacks  on  English  shipping 
were  so  serious  that  England  was  using  every  possible  effort  to 
destroy  these  piratical  craft,  and  it  was  determined  to  make  an 
attempt  to  block  the  entrances  to  the  canals  at  Zeebrugge  and  at 
Ostend,  by  sinking  old  ships  in  the  channels. 

The  expedition  took  place  during  the  night  of  April  22d, 
under  the  command  of  Vice- Admiral  Sir  Roger  Keyes.  Six  obsolete 
British  cruisers  took  part  in  the  expedition.  These  were  the  Bril- 
liant, Iphigenia,  Sirius,  Intrepid,  Thetis  and  Vindictive.  The 
Vindictive  carried  storming  parties  to  destroy  the  stone  mole  at 
Zeebrugge;  the  remaining  five  cruisers  were  filled  with  concrete, 
and  it  was  intended  that  they  should  be  sunk  hi  the  entrances  of 
the  two  ports.  A  large  force  of  monitors  and  small  fast  craft 
accompanied  the  expedition.  An  observer  thus  describes  the 
heroic  exploit: 

The  night  was  overcast  and  there  was  a  drifting  haze.  Down 
the  coast  a  great  searchlight  swung  its  beam  to  and  fro  in  the 
small  wind  and  short  sea.  From  the  Vindictive's  bridge,  as  she 
headed  in  toward  the  mole,  there  was  scarcely  a  glimmer  of  light 
to  be  seen  shoreward.  Ahead  as  she  drove  through  the  water 
rolled  the  smoke  screen,  her  cloak  of  invisibility,  wrapped  about 
her  by  small  craft.  This  was  the  device  of  Wing-Commander 
Brock,  without  which,  acknowledged  the  Admiral  in  command, 
the  operation  could  not  have  been  conducted.  A  northeast  wind 
moved  the  volume  of  it  shoreward  ahead  of  the  ships.  Beyond  it 
was  the  distant  town,  its  defenders  unsuspicious. 

It  was  not  until  the  Vindictive,  with  bluejackets  and  marines 
standing  ready  for  landing,  was  close  upon  the  mole,  that  the  wind 
lulled  and  came  away  again  from  the  southeast,  sweeping  back 
the  smoke  screen  and  laying  her  bare  to  eyes  that  looked  seaward. 
There  was  a  moment  immediately  afterward  when  it  seemed  to 
chose  on  the  ships  as  if  the  dim  harbor  exploded  into  light.  A 


BELGIUM'S   GALLANT  EFFORT  575 

star  shell  soared  aloft,  then  a  score  of  star  shells.  Wavering  beams 
of  the  searchlights  swung  around  and  settled  into  a  glare.  A  wild 
fire  of  gun  flashes  leaped  against  the  sky;  strings  of  luminous 
green  beads  shot  aloft,  hung  and  sank.  The  darkness  of  the  night 
was  supplemented  by  a  nightmare  daylight  of  battle-fired  guns, 
and  machine  guns  along  the  mole.  The  batteries  ashore  woke 
to  life. 

It  was  in  a  gale  of  shelling  that  the  Vindictive  laid  her  nose 
against  the  thirty-foot-high  concrete  side  of  the  mole,  let  go  her 
anchor,  and  signaled  to  the  Daffodil  to  shove  her  stern  in.  The 
Iris  went  ahead  and  endeavored  to  get  alongside  likewise. 

The  fire  was  intense  while  the  ships  plunged  and  rolled  beside 
the  mole  in  the  seas,  the  Vindictive,  with  her  greater  draft,  jarring 
against  the  foundations  of  the  mole  with  every  lunge.  They  were 
swept  diagonally  by  machine-gun  fire  from  both  ends  of  the  mole 
and  by  the  heavy  batteries  on  shore.  Captain  Carpenter  conned 
the  Vindictive  from  the  open  bridge  until  her  stern  was  laid  in, 
when  he  took  up  his  position  in  the  flame  thrower  hut  on  the  port 
side.  It  is  marvelous  that  any  occupant  should  have  survived  a 
minute  in  this  hut,  so  riddled  and  shattered  was  it. 

The  officer  of  the  Iris,  which  was  in  trouble  ahead  of  the 
Vindictive,  described  Captain  Carpenter  as  handling  her  like  a 
picket  boat.  The  Vindictive  was  fitted  along  her  port  side  with  a 
high,  false  deck,  from  which  ran  eighteen  brows,  or  gangways,  by 
which  the  storming  and  demolition  parties  were  to  land.  The 
men  gathered  in  readiness  on  the  main  lower  decks,  while  Colonel 
Elliott,  who  was  to  lead  the  marines,  waited  on  the  false  deck  just 
abaft  the  bridge.  Captain  Hallahan,  who  commanded  the  blue- 
jackets, was  amidships.  The  word  for  the  assault  had  not  yet 
been  given  when  both  leaders  were  killed. 

The  mere  landing  on  the  mole  was  a  perilous  business.  It 
involved  a  passage  across  the  crashing  and  splintering  gangways, 
a  drop  over  the  parapet  into  the  field  of  fire  of  the  German  machine- 
guns  which  swept  its  length,  and  a  further  drop  of  some  sixteen 
feet  to  the  surface  of  the  mole  itself.  Many  were  killed  and  more 
wounded  as  they  crowded  up  the  gangways,  but  nothing  hindered 
the  orderly  and  speedy  landing  by  every  gangway.  The  lower 
deck  was  a  shambles,  as  the  commander  made  the  round  of  the 
ship,  yet  the  wounded  and  dying  raised  themselves  to  cheer  as 
he  made  his  tour. 


576 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


The  Iris  had  trouble  of  her  own.  Her  first  attempts  to  make 
fast  to  the  mole  ahead  of  the  Vindictive  failed,  as  her  grapnels 
were  not  large  enough  to  span  the  parapet.  Two  officers,  Lieu- 
tenant-Commander Bradford,  and  Lieutenant  Hawkins,  climbed 
ashore  and  sat  astride  the  parapet  trying  to  make  the  grapnels 


ZEEBRUQGE  HARBOR,  BLOCKED  BY  BRITISH 

fast,  till  each  was  killed,  and  fell  down  between  the  ship  and  the 
wall.  Commander  Valentine  Gibbs  had  both  legs  shot  away, 
and  died  next  morning.  Lieutenant  Spencer  though  wounded, 
took  command  and  refused  to  be  relieved. 

The  Iris  was  obliged  at  last  to  change  her  position  and  fall 
in  astern  of  the  Vindictive,  which  suffered  very  heavily  from  fire. 


BELGIUM'S  GALLANT  EFFORT  577 

Her  total  casualties  were  eight  officers  and  sixty-nine  men  killed, 
and  three  officers  and  103  men  wounded. 

The  storming  parties  upon  the  mole  met  with  no  resistance 
from  the  Germans  other  than  an  intense  and  unremitting  fire. 
One  after  another  buildings  burst  into  flames,  or  split  and  crumbled 
as  dynamite  went  off.  A  bombing  party  working  up  toward  the 
mole  in  search  of  the  enemy  destroyed  several  machine  gun  emplace- 
ments but  not  a  single  prisoner  awarded  them.  It  appears  that 
upon  the  approach  of  the  ships  and  with  the  opening  of  fire  the 
enemy  simply  retired  and  contented  themselves  with  bringing 
machine  guns  to  the  short  end  of  the  mole. 

The  object  of  the  fighting  on  the  mole  was  in  large  part  to 
divert  the  enemy's  attention  while  the  work  of  blocking  the  canals 
was  being  accomplished. 

Of  this  operation  the  official  narrative  says:  "The  Thetis 
came  first  steaming  into  a  tornado  of  shells  from  great  batteries 
ashore.  All  her  crew  save  a  remnant  who  remained  to  steam  her 
in  and  sink  her,  already  had  been  taken  off  her  by  a  ubiquitous 
motor  launch.  The  remnant  spared  hands  enough  to  keep  her 
four  guns  going.  It  was  hers  to  show  the  road  to  the  Intrepid 
and  Iphigenia  which  followed.  She  cleared  a  string  of  armed 
barges,  which  defends  the  channel  from  the  tip  of  the  mole,  but 
had  the  ill-fortune  to  foul  one  of  her  propellers  upon  a  net  defense 
which  flanks  it  on  the  shore  side.  The  propeller  gathered  hi  the 
net  and  it  rendered  her  practically  unmanageable.  Shore  batteries 
found  her  and  pounded  her  unremittingly.  She  bumped  into  the 
bank,  edged  off  and  found  herself  in  the  channel  again,  still  some 
hundreds  of  yards  from  the  mouth  of  the  canal  in  practically  a 
sinking  condition.  As  she  lay  she  signaled  invaluable  directions 
to  others,  and  her  commander  blew  charges  and  sank  it.  Motor 
launches  took  off  her  crew.  The  Intrepid,  smoking  like  a  volcano, 
and  with  all  her  guns  blazing,  followed.  Her  motor  launch  had 
failed  to  get  alongside,  outside  the  harbor,  and  she  had  men  enough 
for  anything.  Straight  into  the  canal  she  steered,  her  smoke 
blowing  back  from  her  into  the  Iphigenia's  eyes  so  that  the  latter 
was  blinded,  and  going  a  little  wild,  ran  into  the  dredger,  with  her 
barge  moored  beside  it,  which  lay  at  the  western  arm  of  the  canal. 
She  was  not  clear  though,  and  entered  the  canal,  pushing  the  barge 
before  her. 


578  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

"It  was  then  that  a  shell  hit  the  steam  connections  of  her 
whistle  and  the  escape  of  steam  which  followed  drove  off  some  of 
the  smoke,  and  let  her  see  what  she  was  doing.  Lieutenant  Carter, 
commanding  the  Intrepid,  placed  the  nose  of  his  ship  neatly  on 
the  mud  of  the  western  bank,  ordered  his  crew  away,  and  blew 
up  his  ship  by  switches  in  the  chart  room.  Lieutenant  Leake, 
commanding  the  Iphigenia,  beached  her  according  to  arrangement 
on  the  eastern  side,  blew  her  up,  saw  her  drop  nicely  across  the 
canal,  and  left  her  with  her  engines  still  going  to  hold  her  in  posi- 
tion till  she  should  have  bedded  well  down  on  the  bottom.  Accord- 
ing to  the  latest  reports  from  air  observation  the  two  old  ships, 
with  their  holds  full  of  concrete,  are  lying  across  the  canal  hi  a 
V-position,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  work  they  set  out  to  do  has 
been  accomplished  and  that  the  canal  is  effectively  blocked." 

At  Ostend  an  attempt  was  also  made  to  block  the  canal  on 
the  same  night,  but  it  was  unsuccessful  owing  to  a  shift  of  wind 
which  blew  away  the  smoke  screen  behind  which  the  British  craft 
were  acting,  and  enabled  the  German  gun  fire  to  destroy  the  flares 
which  had  been  lit  to  mark  the  entrance  to  the  harbor.  The  cruisers 
tried  to  act  by  guess  work,  and  one  of  the  block  ships  was  sunk, 
but  it  was  not  in  a  position  to  obstruct  the  canal. 

On  May  9th  another  attempt  was  made,  and  the  Vindictive, 
filled  with  concrete  was  sunk  in  the  Ostend  channel. 

This  daring  exploit  of  the  English  fleet,  though  it  had  destroyed 
the  value  of  Zeebrugge  and  Ostend  as  submarine  bases,  had  left 
the  Germans  in  possession.  In  September,  however,  General 
Foch  determined  that  the  time  had  come  to  throw  his  armies 
against  the  German  forces  in  the  distracted  little  country.  He 
planned  two  widely  separated  thrusts.  On  the  south  he  sent 
Pershing  against  the  Germans  between  the  Argonne  and  the  Meuse. 
They  made  rapid  progress,  capturing  Montfaucon,  Varennes  and 
driving  on  until  they  had  destroyed  the  German  control  of  the 
Paris-Chalons-Verdun  Railroad. 

This  was  a  serious  blow  to  the  Germans,  for  a  further  push 
northward  would  cut  the  vital  lateral  railway  connecting  the 
German  armies  hi  Belgium  and  France  with  those  in  Alsace- 
Lorraine.  Ludendorf  hastened  reserves  to  this  front,  and  the 
American  operation  was  slowed  down.  Meanwhile  at  the  other 


BELGIUM'S   GALLANT  EFFORT  579 

end  of  the  line  the  Belgians,  with  General  Plumer's  Second  British 
Army,  suddenly  attacked  on  a  front  which  extended  all  the  way 
from  the  canal  at  Dixmude  to  the  Lys,  swept  the  Germans  out  of 
all  the  famous  fighting  ground  of  the  Ypres  salient,  pushed  across 
the  Passchendaele  Ridge  and  down  into  the  Flanders  plain  below. 

The  situation  of  the  Germans  in  the  Lille  regions  of  the  south 
and  also  along  the  Belgian  coast  became  at  once  dangerous.  Once 
more  Ludendorf  was  compelled  to  send  reserves,  and  this  thrust 
began  to  slow  up  but  it  was  not  checked  permanently,  and  the 
Belgian  armies  were  to  move  on.  While  this  advance  was  being 
conducted  the  British  fleet  were  bombarding  the  coastal  defenses. 
The  Belgian  army,  righting  with  the  utmost  spirit  under  command 
of  King  Albert,  made  a  penetration  of  five  miles  and  captured 
four  thousand  prisoners  and  an  immense  amount  of  supplies. 

On  September  30th  they  captured  the  city  of  Holders.  For 
ten  days  there  was  a  consolidation  of  position  by  the  Allies,  but 
on  October  14th  they  made  a  furious  attack  in  the  general  direc- 
tion of  Ghent  and  Courtrai.  Thousands  of  prisoners  and  several 
complete  batteries  of  guns  were  captured.  In  this  attack  British, 
Belgian  and  French  troops  took  part,  and  the  troops  of  the  three 
nations  went  over  the  top  without  preliminary  bombardment, 
taking  the  enemy  by  surprise. 

On  October  15th  the  news  from  Flanders  showed  that  the 
victory  was  growing  in  extent,  the  Allied  armies  were  advancing 
on  a  front  of  about  twenty-five  miles,  and  in  some  places  had 
penetrated  the  enemy's  positions  six  or  seven  miles.  The  Belgians 
had  captured  seven  thousand  prisoners  and  the  British  and  French 
about  four  thousand.  In  French  Flanders  the  British  advanced 
to  a  point  about  three  miles  west  of  Lille. 

The  battle  was  carried  on  in  a  heavy  rain  which  turned  the 
battle-fields  into  seas  of  mud;  while  this  hampered  the  Allied 
troops  it  hindered  even  more  the  Germans  in  trying  to  move  away 
their  material  through  the  mired  ground  of  the  Flanders  Lowland. 

On  the  next  day  dispatches  indicated  that  a  retreat  on  a 
tremendous  scale  in  northern  Belgium  was  under  way.  The 
Germans  were  retreating  so  fast  that  the  Allies  lost  touch  with 
the  enemy.  The  gallant  little  Belgian  army,  assisted  by  crack 
British  and  French  troops,  had  driven  the  despoilers  of  its  country 
from  a  large  section  which  the  Germans  had  occupied  since  the 


580  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD  WAR 

early  days  of  the  war,  and  had  gained  positions  of  such  importance 
as  to  make  it  probable  that  the  Germans  would  have  to  abandon 
the  entire  coast  of  Belgium. 

Moreover,  on  the  south,  the  city  of  Lille,  with  the  great  mining 
and  manufacturing  districts  around  it,  was  being  left  in  a  salient 
which  was  growing  deeper  every  hour  and  which  the  enemy  could 
not  hope  to  hold.  At  certain  points  the  resistance  of  the  Germans 
was  extraordinarily  fierce.  This  was  especially  true  in  the  region 
of  Thouret.  The  battle  here  was  from  street  to  street  and  from 
house  to  house.  The  Germans  had  placed  machine-guns  in  the 
windows  of  houses  and  cellars  and  fired  murderous  streams  of 
bullets  into  the  advancing  Belgians  but  were  unable  to  stop  them. 

The  Belgians  fought  with  a  dogged  determination  such  as 
only  troops  fighting  to  regain  their  outraged  country  could  display. 
Nothing  could  stop  them.  At  other  points,  especially  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  battle  area,  the  Germans  surrendered  freely. 
Many  civilians  were  rescued  from  the  towns  and  districts  cap- 
tured, and  little  processions  of  these  were  straggling  rearward 
out  of  range  of  the  guns,  and  out  of  the  way  of  the  fighting  troops. 
At  times  liberated  Belgian  women  could  see  their  sons,  brothers 
or  husbands  going  forward  into  battle.  On  October  17th  the 
German  retreat  in  Flanders  became  a  rout.  The  enemy  were 
fleeing  rapidly  on  their  entire  front.  The  British  entered  Lille. 

The  Germans  fled  from  Ostend  and  British  naval  forces  were 
landed  there.  The  Belgian  infantry  were  sweeping  up  the  coast, 
and  Belgian  patrols  entered  Bruges.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
King  Albert  of  Belgium,  and  Queen  Elizabeth  entered  Ostend. 
The  splendid  fighting  of  the  Belgian  troops  and  their  magnificent 
victory  was  now  attracting  universal  attention.  It  was  one  of  the 
revelations  of  the  war.  They  were  bearing  the  giant's  share  of 
the  work  of  the  Allied  armies  in  their  own  country,  and  had  already 
liberated  territory  which  more  than  doubled  the  area  of  that  part 
of  Belgium  which  had  been  in  their  possession. 

With  the  Belgian  coast  cleared  of  invaders  it  became  open  to 
British  transports  which  would  afford  relief  to  the  whole  Allied 
armies  from  the  resultant  decrease  in  the  congestion  of  the  channel 
ports.  On  October  19th  the  progress  continued.  Zeebrugge 
was  occupied  by  the  Allies,  the  last  Belgian  port  remaining  in 
German  hands. 


BELGIUM'S    GALLANT  EFFORT  581 

The  Belgian  advance  continued  along  the  whole  line.  King 
Albert  entered  Bruges.  Day  after  day  the  advance  continued. 
The  reception  of  the  King  and  Queen  of  Belgium  in  the  recovered 
towns  was  something  to  remember.  In  Bruges  they  rode  in  amid 
the  tumultuous  cheering  of  the  frenzied  population.  On  the  central 
square  they  were  received  by  the  burgomaster  with  an  escort  of  a 
solitary  gendarme,  who  had  refused  to  give  up  his  uniform  and  old- 
fashioned  rifle  to  the  enemy;  though  fined  and  imprisoned  he  had 
kept  their  hiding  place  secret.  As  he  stood  there  alone  with  fixed 
bayonet  the  King  and  the  Queen  shook  him  by  the  hand  and  con- 
gratulated him.  Greatly  moved,  he  stammered,  "It  is  too  great 
an  honor,  too  great  an  honor." 

And  with  all  this  happiness  came  the  happiness  arising  from 
the  return  of  the  soldiers  to  the  homes  from  which  they  had  been 
absent  so  long,  the  reunions  of  husband  and  wife,  of  parents  and 
children.  Belgium  was  now  to  reap  the  reward  for  her  heroism. 


CHAPTER  XLV 

ITALY'S  TERRIFIC  DRIVE 

FOR  many  months  after  the  great  Italian  stand  on  the  Piave 
there  was  inactivity  on  both  fronts  in  Italy.  The  Italians 
had  been  reinforced  by  troops  from  France  and  Great 
Britain  and  their  own  army  was  now  larger  than  it  had 
been  at  any  other  time.  On  June  15th,  about  the  time  when  the 
Germans  were  being  driven  back  on  the  Marne  and  the  Oise,  the 
Austrians,  urged  to  action  by  the  Germans,  suddenly  undertook 
a  great  offensive  on  a  front  from  the  Asiago  Plateau  to  the  sea,  a 
distance  of  ninety-seven  miles. 

From  the  very  start  it  was  plain  that  the  Italians  were  resisting 
magnificently.  The  offensive  was  not  unexpected,  either  in  time 
or  locality,  and  had  been  openly  discussed  in  the  Italian  press. 
The  Italians  therefore  were  not  taken  by  surprise,  and  moreover 
since  the  disaster  of  Caparetto  the  Italians  had  learned  by  a  patient 
campaign  of  education  what  they  were  fighting  for. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  battle  the  Austrian  troops  made  a 
desperate  effort  to  break  through  the  Italian  lines,  particularly  in 
the  eastern  sector  of  the  Asiago  Plateau,  and  crossed  the  Piave 
River  at  two  places.  They  also  attacked  the  French  positions 
between  Osteria  di  Monfenera  and  Maranzine,  but  were  driven 
back  with  heavy  loss.  At  every  point  where  the  Austrians  were 
able  to  advance  the  Italians  initiated  vigorous  counter-attacks. 
The  order  to  Italy's  army  was,  "Hold  at  any  cost." 

On  the  third  day  of  the  battle  the  Austrian  offensive  was 
being  strongly  checked.  They  had  established  three  bridgeheads 
on  the  Piave,  but  had  not  been  able  to  advance.  The  most  notable 
of  these  crossings  was  that  in  the  Montello  sector.  Montello  is  of 
particular  importance,  because  it  is  the  hinge  between  the  mountains 
and  the  Piave  sectors  of  the  Italian  front.  If  it  could  be  held  the 
Austrians  would  be  in  a  position  to  dominate  from  the  flank  and 
rear  all  the  Italian  positions  defending  the  line  of  the  Piave  in  the 
dead  flat  plain  to  the  south. 

582 


STORMING   THE   MOLE  AT  ZEEBRUGGE 

One  of  the  most  brilliant  and  spectacular  feats  in  naval  history  was  the  British 
blocking  of  the  submarine  harbor  at  Zeebrugge.  The  picture  shows  one  of  the  detach- 
nents  of  marines  that  braved  the  terrific  German  defense  fire  and  swarmed  up  the 
mole  that  protects  the  harbor,  planting  explosives  that  made  a  great  breach  and  let 
the  tides  in. 


ITALY'S  TERRIFIC   DRIVE  585 

On  the  Lower  Piave  the  Austrians  had  made  gains  and  had 
captured  Capo  Sile.  The  Austrians  were  using  a  million  men  and 
were  using  liquid  fire  and  gas  bombs,  but  their  every  move  was 
resisted  strongly.  Vienna  was  claiming  the  capture  of  30,000  men, 
but  the  Italian  reports  claimed  that  the  Austrian  losses  were  stu- 
pendous. Thousands  of  dead  were  heaped  before  the  Italian  line 
in  the  mountain  sectors,  blocking  the  mule  paths  and  choking  the 
defiles.  No  fewer  than  nine  desperate  onslaughts  upon  Monte 
Grappa,  always  with  fresh  reserves,  were  broken  upon  Grappa 
heights,  with  terrific  losses. 

On  July  19th  the  dispatches  from  Rome  were  emphasizing  the 
Italian  counter-attacks.  Not  only  were  the  Italians  preventing  the 
enemy  from  making  further  gains,  but  they  were  beginning  to 
crowd  him  back  at  the  points  where  he  had  crossed  the  river,  and 
were  raining  bombs  and  machine-gun  bullets  upon  the  Austrian 
troops  at  the  bridgehead.  They  were  also  taking  the  initiative  in 
the  fighting  in  the  mountain  sectors. 

By  June  20th  the  Austrian  defeat  was  clear.  Then*  forces 
were  backed  against  the  flooded  Piave,  which  had  carried  away 
their  bridges  and  left  them  to  the  mercy  of  the  Italians.  Thousands 
were  being  killed  and  other  thousands  captured.  Czecho-Slovak 
troops,  it  was  reported,  had  joined  in  the  fighting,  and  had  given 
their  first  tribute  of  blood  to  the  generous  principles  of  freedom  and 
independence  for  which  they  were  in  arms.  In  the  Piave  delta  the 
Italians  had  regained  Capo  Sile,  which  had  been  captured  early  in 
the  drive,  and  it  was  reported  that  all  along  the  Piave  line  they  had 
won  complete  control  of  the  air,  not  a  single  Austrian  machine 
being  still  aloft.  The  spirits  of  the  Austrian  troops  had  been 
definitely  weakened.  They  were  war  wearied,  and  evidence  began 
to  accumulate  that  Austria's  drive  was  a  "hunger  offensive." 

As  the  battle  continued  reports  began  to  arrive  of  the  gallant 
deeds  of  American  airmen,  who  were  helping  in  the  fighting  along  the 
front.  The  airmen  were  assisting  in  destroying  the  bridges  that 
the  Austrians  were  trying  to  throw  across  the  river.  The  Piave 
was  now  a  vast  cataract  and  the  bridges  which  it  had  not  washed 
down  were  constantly  destroyed  by  the  aviators.  The  Austrians 
on  the  western  bank  were  finding  it  difficult  to  obtain  supplies  and 
were  resorting  to  hydroplanes  for  that  purpose.  On  June  24th  the 
Austrian  attack  had  definitely  failed  and  they  were  fleeing  in  dis- 


586  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD  WAR 

order  across  the  Piave.  One  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  men 
had  already  been  lost  and  forty  thousand  were  hemmed  in  on  the 
western  side  of  the  river.  The  Austrian  communications  were 
emphasizing  the  difficulties  they  were  meeting  with  through  the 
heavy  rains. 

The  victory  of  the  Italians,  which  was  now  apparent,  was 
received  all  over  Italy  with  great  public  rejoicing.  Italy  had  been 
repenting  hi  sackcloth  and  ashes  her  defeat  of  the  previous  fall. 
Now  they  had  made  amends  and  were  showing  what  the  Italian 
soldier  could  really  do.  In  America,  and  among  the  Allied  Powers, 
there  was  great  enthusiasm,  and  Secretary  of  War  Baker  sent  this 
congratulatory  message  to  the  Italian  Minister  of  War: 

Your  Excellency:  The  people  of  the  United  States  are  watching  with 
enthusiasm  and  admiration  the  splendid  exploits  of  the  great  army  of 
Italy  in  resisting  and  driving  back  the  enemy  forces  which  recently  under- 
took a  major  offensive  on  the  Italian  front.  I  take  great  pleasure  in 
tendering  my  own  hearty  congratulations,  and  would  be  most  happy  to 
have  a  message  of  greeting  and  congratulation  transmitted  to  General 
Diaz  and  his  brave  soldiers. 

NEWTON  D.  BAKER, 
Secretary  of  War  of  the  United  States. 

In  announcing  to  his  victorious  army  the  repulse  of  the 
Austrians  General  Diaz,  the  Italian  Commander-in-Chief,  said: 
"The  enemy  who,  with  furious  impetuosity,  used  all  means  to 
penetrate  our  territory  has  been  repulsed  at  all  points.  His  losses 
are  very  heavy.  His  pride  is  broken.  Glory  to  all  commands,  all 
soldiers,  all  sailors." 

On  the  26th  of  June  the  Italian  troops,  having  forced  the  last 
rear  guard  of  the  retreating  Austrians  to  surrender  and  completely 
occupied  the  west  bank  of  the  Piave,  began  an  offensive  on  the 
mountain  front  in  the  Monte  Grappa  sector.  They  gained  more 
than  3,000  prisoners,  and  considerable  territory.  On  the  southern 
part  of  the  Piave  front  they  were  carrying  on  a  vigorous  offensive 
against  the  Austrian  positions  within  the  Piave  delta.  The 
Austrian  troops,  at  that  point,  were  being  prevented  from  retreat 
by  the  high  water,  and  suffered  terrible  losses.  On  July  6th  the 
Italians  drove  the  last  of  the  enemy  from  the  delta. 

The  campaign  in  Italy  now  languished,  until,  on  October  27th, 
Italy  began  her  last  terrible  drive.  The  great  Italian  offensive 


ITALY'S  TERRIFIC  DRIVE  587 

was  made  not  only  by  their  own  forces  and  the  French  and  British 
troops,  which  had  assisted  them  the  previous  June,  but  during  the 
intervening  period  a  large  force  of  Americans  had  arrived  in  Italy. 
On  June  27th  Secretary  Baker  had  made  the  announcement  that 
General  Pershing  had  been  instructed  to  send  into  Italy  a  regi- 
ment that  was  then  in  training  in  France.  The  regiment  thus  sent 
was  augmented  considerably  later.  The  purpose  of  sending  troops 
to  Italy,  Mr.  Baker  explained,  was  rather  political  than  military. 
It  was  desired  to  demonstrate  again  that  the  Allied  nations  and  the 
United  States  were  one  in  then*  purposes  on  all  fronts,  and  to  extend 
the  intercourse  between  the  troops  of  all  the  powers  at  war  with 
Germany. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  Italian  offensive  their  success 
increased.  More  than  nine  thousand  Austrians  were  taken  prisoners 
and  fifty-one  guns  were  captured.  The  Piave  River  had  been 
crossed,  and  the  Italians  had  advanced  four  miles  to  its  east. 
The  attacks  in  the  mountain  region  were  being  more  bitterly  con- 
tested, and  counter-attacks  had  enabled  the  enemy  to  regain  some 
of  their  lost  positions. 

On  October  30th  the  Italian  advance  was  continuing.  The 
Austrian  front  appeared  to  be  breaking  under  the  heavy  blows  of 
the  Allied  troops.  Dispatches  indicated  striking  successes,  not 
only  on  the  Italian  front  but  at  the  points  where  the  British  and  the 
French  were  holding  the  line.  The  Americans  were  being  held  in 
reserve,  but  American  airplanes  were  actively  participating  in  the 
work  at  the  front.  By  this  time  the  last  lines  of  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  resistance  on  the  central  positions  along  the  Piave 
River  had  been  broken,  and  more  than  fifteen  thousand  prisoners 
been  taken.  The  Austrians,  however,  had  been  desperately  resisting, 
and  then*  artillery  fire  at  many  points  was  very  effective,  especially 
that  which  had  been  directed  at  the  pontoon  bridges  thrown  across 
the  Piave. 

King  Victor  Emanuel  had  been  present  hi  person  during  the 
crossing,  and  was  often  under  the  fire  of  the  Austrian  guns.  On 
October  30th,  33,000  Austrians  had  been  captured  and  the  Italians 
had  reached  Vittorio.  Americans  had  now  joined  in  the  fighting. 

The  Austrian  retreat  reached  the  proportion  of  a  rout.  They 
were  still  fighting,  especially  in  the  mountain  region,  but  in  the 
plains  east  of  the  Piave  they  were  hi  full  flight.  Taking  into 


588  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

consideration  the  numbers  of  troops  in  the  Austrian  lines  and  their 
apparently  plentiful  supplies,  it  began  to  seem  probable  that  their 
break  was  due  more  to  political  maneuvers  than  to  military  force. 
The  Austrians  at  this  time  were  making  a  great  peace  drive,  and 
the  dissatisfaction  at  home  had  affected  the  morale  of  the  troops 
at  the  front.  The  conditions  in  Italy  were  in  close  resemblance  to 
those  in  Bulgaria  just  before  Bulgaria  applied  for  an  armistice. 

On  the  1st  of  November  the  Austrians  were  completely  routed, 
and  were  streaming  in  confusion  down  the  valleys  of  the  Alpine 
foothills,  and  fleeing  northward  from  the  Piave.  Reports  from 
Austria  indicated  riots  at  Vienna  and  Budapest.  In  Vienna  people 
were  parading  the  streets,  shouting  "Down  with  the  Hapsburgs!" 
On  October  29th,  the  Austrians  asked  for  an  armistice.  Their 
announcement  read  as  follows: 

The  High  Command  of  the  armies,  early  Tuesday,  by  means  of  a 
Parliamentaire,  established  communication  with  the  Italian  army  com- 
mand. Every  effort  is  to  be  made  for  the  avoidance  of  further  useless 
sacrifice  of  blood,  for  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  the  conclusion  of  an 
armistice.  Toward  this  step  which  is  animated  by  the  best  intentions  the 
Italian  High  Command  at  first  assumed  an  attitude  of  unmistakable 
refusal,  and  it  was  only  on  the  evening  of  Wednesday  that,  in  accord  with 
the  Italian  High  Command,  General  Weber,  accompanied  by  a  deputation, 
was  permitted  to  cross  the  fighting  line  for  preliminary  pourparlers. 

General  Diaz,  the  Italian  Commander,  had  referred  the 
Austrian  request  to  the  Versailles  Conference,  and  had  acted  in 
accordance  with  their  direction.  In  proposing  the  armistice  the 
Austrians  had  also  expressed  their  resolve  to  bring  about  peace  and 
to  evacuate  the  occupied  territory  of  Italy.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  the  end. 

The  northern  part  of  Italy  is  bounded  by  the  Alps,  and  between 
those  lofty  ranges  and  the  deep  valleys  there  had  been  constant 
fighting.  In  this  fighting,  both  on  mountain  and  in  valley,  there 
were  the  most  extraordinary  deeds  of  individual  heroism,  con- 
stantly exhibited. 

The  Alpine  regiments,  known  in  Italy  as  the  Alpini,  were  men 
of  extraordinary  physical  powers,  accustomed  to  mountain  climbing, 
and  filled  with  courage  and  patriotism.  Owing  to  the  nature  of  the 
territory  in  such  contests,  only  a  limited  number  of  men  could  be 
used  at  one  time,  and  the  fighting  went  on  over  masses  of  snow  or 


ITALY'S  TERRIFIC   DRIVE  589 

solid  rock.  Guns  were  hauled  up  precipices  and  dugouts  excavated 
in  the  rock  itself.  The  Italian  troops,  clothed  in  white  overalls  to 
prevent  their  being  seen,  moved  with  great  rapidity  from  point  to 
point,  and  forced  their  enemy  to  keep  constantly  on  the  alert. 
In  the  great  Italian  drive  just  described  the  most  bitter  fighting  was 
that  which  occurred  in  these  mountainous  regions. 

The  work  of  the  Italian  aviators  is  also  worthy  of  special 
attention.  They  not  only  secured  entire  command  of  the  air, 
but  by  flying  low  they  often  threw  into  confusion  with  then*  machine 
guns  the  Austrian  infantry.  Their  wonderful  work  in  bringing  in 
military  information,  and  in  bombing  expeditions,  was  not  excelled, 
if  it  was  equaled,  by  the  airmen  of  any  other  country.  The 
Itab'an  airplanes  themselves  were  engineering  triumphs.  The 
inventive  genius  so  notable  in  these  days  in  Italy  found  expression 
in  their  development.  Some  of  their  machines  were  the  biggest 
made  during  the  whole  war,  and  the  long  journeys  made  by  such 
machines  deserve  special  mention.  The  most  interesting  feat  of  this 
kind  was  performed  on  August  9th  by  the  famous  poet,  Captain 
Gabrielle  D'Annunzio.  Accompanied  by  eight  Italian  machines, 
he  flew  to  the  city  of  Vienna,  a  total  distance  of  620  miles,  and 
dropped  copies  of  an  Allied  manifesto  over  the  city.  They  crossed 
the  Alps  in  a  great  wind  storm  at  a  height  of  ten  thousand  feet, 
and  all  but  one  returned  safely.  The  manifesto,  which  was  written 
by  D'Annunzio  reads  as  follows: 

People  of  Vienna,  you  are  fated  to  know  the  Italians.  We  are  flying 
over  Vienna  and  could  drop  tons  of  bombs.  On  the  contrary  we  leave  a 
salutation  and  the  flag  with  its  colors  of  liberty.  We  Italians  do  not  make 
war  on  children,  the  aged  and  women.  We  make  war  on  your  govern- 
ment, which  is  the  enemy  of  the  liberty  of  nations, — on  your  blind,  wanton, 
cruel  government,  which  gives  you  neither  peace  nor  bread,  and  nurtures 
you  on  hatred  and  delusions.  People  of  Vienna,  you  have  the  reputation 
of  being  intelligent,  why  then  do  you  wear  the  Prussian  uniform?  Now 
you  see  the  entire  world  is  against  you,  do  you  wish  to  continue  the  war? 
Keep  on,  then,  but  it  will  be  your  suicide.  What  can  you  hope  from 
the  victory  promised  to  you  by  the  Prussian  generals?  Their  decisive 
victory  is  like  the  bread  of  the  Ukraine, — one  dies  while  awaiting  it. 
People  of  Vienna,  think  of  your  dear  ones,  awake!  Long  live  Italy, 
Liberty  and  the  Entente! 

It  was  said  that  copies  of  this  proclamation  in  Vienna  had  a 
value  of  fifty  dollars  a  copy.  D'Annunzio's  great  fame  had 


590  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

seized  upon  the  popular  imagination.  His  career  in  the  war  would 
have  been  interesting  in  itself,  but  when  one  recognizes  that  he 
was  already  a  world  figure,  the  greatest  modern  Italian  dramatist 
and  novelist,  his  life  seems  almost  like  a  fairy  story.  Before  the 
war  began  he  made  addresses  all  over  his  country,  urging  Italy's 
participation  in  the  war,  and  when  war  was  declared,  to  him,  as 
much  as  to  any  other  man,  was  due  the  credit.  He  entered  the 
navy,  and  has  written  some  fascinating  descriptions  of  his  life  on 
board  ship.  Later  he  joined  the  airplane  corps,  and  now  was 
showering  down  upon  the  gaping  populace  of  Vienna  appeals  to 
rise  against  its  Hapsburg  masters.  D  'Annunzio  was  extraordinary 
in  his  literary  career.  He  had  been  the  poet  of  passion,  a  writer  of 
novels  and  plays,  which,  although  artistic  in  the  highest  degree, 
showed  him  to  be  an  egotist  and  a  decadent.  But  long  before 
the  war  he  had  tired  of  his  erotic  productions  and  had  begun  to 
write  the  praises  of  Nature  and  of  heroes.  He  had  been  singing  the 
praises  of  his  country.  "La  Nave"  symbolizes  the  glory  of  Venice. 
He  had  become  more  wholesome.  War  was  making  him  not  only 
a  man  but  a  hero. 

Of  course  D'Annunzio  was  not  the  only  great  literary  man 
who  had  left  the  study  for  the  battle-field.  JSschylus  fought  at 
Marathon  and  Salamis;  Ariosto  put  down  a  rebellion  for  his  prince 
between  composition  of  cantos  of  Orlando  Furioso;  Sir  Philip 
Sydney  was  scholar,  poet  and  soldier,  and  many  a  soldier  when 
his  wars  were  over  has  turned  to  the  labors  of  the  pen.  Yet  it  is 
not  without  surprise  that  one  sees  D'Annunzio  join  this  distin- 
guished company,  and  one's  admiration  grows  as  it  becomes  plain 
that  he  was  not  a  mere  poseur.  He  was  a  poet,  but  he  was  a  soldier 
too.  Not  every  great  poet  could  drive  an  airplane  to  Vienna. 


CHAPTER  XLVI 
,  BULGABIA  DESERTS  GERMANY 

DURING  the  year  1916  there  was  little  movement  in  the 
Balkans.  The  Allies  had  settled  down  at  Saloniki  and 
intrenched  themselves  so  strongly  that  their  positions 
were  practically  impregnable.  These  intrenchments 
were  on  slopes  facing  north,  heavily  wired  and  with  seven  miles 
of  swamp  before  them,  over  which  an  attacking  army  would  have 
to  pass.  It  was  obviously  inadvisable  to  withdraw  entirely  the 
armies  at  Saloniki.  So  long  as  they  were  there  it  was  possible  at 
any  time  to  make  an  attack  on  Bulgaria  in  case  Russia  or  Roumania 
should  need  such  assistance.  And  moreover,  it  was  evident  that 
it  was  only  the  presence  of  the  Saloniki  army  that  kept  Greece 
neutral.  During  the  year  there  were  a  few  fights  which  were 
little  more  than  skirmishes;  almost  all  of  the  German  soldiers 
had  been  withdrawn,  and  it  was  chiefly  the  Bulgarian  army  that 
was  facing  the  Allies.  On  May  26th  Bulgarian  forces  advanced 
into  Greece  and  occupied  Fort  Rupel,  with  the  acquiescence  of  the 
Greek  Government. 

The  Greeks  were  in  a  difficult  position.  It  was  not  unnatural 
that  King  Constantine  and  the  Greek  General  Staff  believed  that 
the  Allies  had  small  chance  of  victory.  Moreover,  they  had  no 
special  ambitions  which  could  be  satisfied  by  a  war  against  the 
Central  Powers.  On  the  other  hand,  Turkey  was  an  hereditary 
enemy,  and  the  big  sea  coast  would  put  them  at  the  mercy  of  the 
British  navy  hi  case  they  should  join  their  fortunes  to  those  of 
Austro-Germany.  To  an  impartial  observer  their  policy  of  neu- 
trality, if  not  heroic,  was  at  least  wise.  The  Greek  Government, 
therefore,  did  its  best  to  preserve  neutrality.  The  surrender  of 
Fort  Rupel  was  not,  however,  a  neutral  act  and  roused  in  Greece 
a  strong  popular  protest. 

Venizelos,  who  at  all  tunes  was  strongly  friendly  to  the  Allies 
and  who  was  the  one  great  Greek  statesman  who  not  only  believed 
in  their  ultimate  victory  but  who  saw  that  the  true  interests  of 

591 


592  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Greece  were  in  Anatolia  and  the  Islands  of  the  ^Egean,  was  strongly 
opposed  to  King  Constantine's  action.  The  Allies  showed  their 
resentment  by  a  pacific  blockade,  to  prevent  the  export  of  coal  to 
Greece,  with  the  object  of  preventing  supplies  from  reaching  the 
enemy.  This  led  to  a  certain  amount  of  excitement  and  the  Allied 
embassies  in  Athens  were  insulted  by  mobs.  The  governments, 
therefore,  presented  an  ultimatum  commanding  the  demobilization 
of  the  Greek  army,  the  appointment  of  a  neutral  Ministry,  and 
the  calling  of  a  new  election  for  the  Greek  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
as  well  as  the  proper  punishment  of  those  who  were  guilty  of  the 
disorder. 

In  substance,  the  Greeks  yielded  to  the  Allied  demand,  but 
before  a  new  election  could  be  held  an  attack  by  the  Bulgarians 
on  the  17th  of  August  changed  the  situation.  The  Bulgarian 
armies  entered  deep  in  Greek  territory  in  the  eastern  provinces 
and  captured  the  city  of  Kavalla  without  resistance  from  the 
armies  of  Greece.  A  portion  of  the  Greek  army  at  Kavalla  sur- 
rendered and  was  taken  to  Germany  as  " guests"  of  the  German 
Government. 

This  action  of  the  Greek  army  led  to  a  Greek  revolution  which 
broke  out  at  Saloniki  on  the  30th  of  August.  The  King  pursued 
a  tortuous  policy,  professing  neutrality  and  yet  constantly  bringing 
himself  under  suspicion.  The  Revolutionists  organized  an  army 
and  finally  M.  Venizelos,  after  strong  efforts  to  induce  the  King 
to  act,  became  the  head  of  the  Provisional  Government  of  the 
Revolutionists.  The  Allies  pursued  a  policy  almost  as  tortuous 
as  that  of  King  Constantino.  They  could  not  agree  among  them- 
selves as  to  the  proper  policy,  and  took  no  decided  course.  King 
Constantino  apparently  had  the  support  of  Russia  and  of  Italy. 

Meantime  the  fighting  against  Bulgaria  was  still  proceeding. 
The  main  force  of  the  Allies  was  directed  against  the  city  of 
Monastir,  which,  after  considerable  fighting,  was  captured  on 
November  19th.  This  gave  the  Serbians  possession  of  an  important 
point  in  then*  own  country  and  naturally  proved  a  great  stimulus 
to  the  Serbian  armies. 

From  that  tune  on,  and  during  the  year  1917,  little  was  done. 
Minor  offensives  were  undertaken,  some  of  which,  like  the  Allied 
attack  upon  Doiran,  deserve  mention,  but  on  the  whole  the  fight- 
ing was  a  stalemate.  Meanwhile  the  action  of  the  Greek  Govern- 


BULGARIA   DESERTS   GERMANY  593 

ment  had  become  so  unsatisfactory  that  it  was  finally  determined 
to  demand  the  abdication  of  King  Constantine,  and  on  June  llth 
he  found  himself  compelled  to  yield.  In  his  proclamation  he  said: 

Obeying  necessity  of  fulfilling  my  duty  toward  Greece,  I  am  departing 
from  my  beloved  country  accompanied  by  the  heir  to  the  crown,  and  I 
leave  my  son  Alexander  on  the  throne.  I  beg  you  to  accept  my  decision 
with  calm. 

Early  the  next  morning  the  King  and  his  family  set  sail  for 
Italy  on  his  way  to  Switzerland,  where  he  became  another  "King 
hi  exile."  His  son  Alexander  accepted  the  throne  and  issued  the 
following  proclamation: 

At  the  moment  when  my  august  father,  making  a  supreme  sacrifice 
to  our  dear  country,  entrusted  to  me  the  heavy  duties  of  the  Hellenic 
throne  I  express  but  one  single  wish — that  God,  hearing  his  prayer,  will 
protect  Greece,  that  He  will  permit  us  to  see  her  again  united  and  power- 
ful. In  my  grief  at  being  separated  in  circumstances  so  critical  from 
my  well-beloved  father  I  have  a  single  consolation:  to  carry  out  his 
sacred  mandate  which  I  will  endeavor  to  realize  with  all  my  power,  follow- 
ing the  lines  of  his  brilliant  reign,  with  the  help  of  the  people  upon  whose 
love  the  Greek  dynasty  is  supported.  I  am  convinced  that  in  obeying 
the  wishes  of  my  father  the  people  by  their  submission  will  do  their  part 
in  enabling  us  together  to  rescue  our  dear  country  from  the  terrible 
situation  in  which  it  finds  itself. 

The  whole  country  to  all  appearances  received  the  abdication 
with  satisfaction.  On  June  21st,  M.  Venizelos  came  to  Athens 
and  the  Greek  Chamber,  which  was  illegally  dissolved  in  1915, 
was  convoked  and  Venizelos  once  again  became  Prime  Minister. 
At  last  he  had  succeeded,  and  he  proceeded  at  once  to  join  the 
whole  of  the  Grecian  forces  to  the  cause  of  the  Allies.  Of  all  the 
statesmen  prominent  in  the  Great  War,  there  was  none  more  wise, 
more  consistent  or  more  loyal  than  the  great  Greek  statesman. 

For  more  than  a  year  the  Allied  armies  facing  Bulgaria  remained 
upon  the  defensive,  when,  suddenly,  on  the  16th  of  September, 
1918,  in  the  midst  of  the  wonderful  movements  that  were  forcing 
back  the  German  armies  hi  France,  a  dispatch  was  received  from 
the  Allied  forces  in  Macedonia.  The  Serbian  army,  in  co-operation 
with  French  and  English  forces,  had  attacked  the  Bulgarian  posi- 
tions on  a  ten-mile  front,  had  stormed  those  positions  and  progressed 
more  than  five  miles.  On  the  next  day  news  was  received  that  the 
advance  was  continuing;  that  the  Allies  had  occupied  an  important 


594  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

series  of  ridges,  and  had  pierced  the  Bulgarian  front;  that  more 
than  three  thousand  prisoners  had  been  captured  and  twenty-four 
guns.  The  movement  took  place  about  twelve  miles  east  of 
Monastir  and  the  ridge  of  Sokol,  and  the  town  of  Gradeshnitsa 
were  captured  by  the  Allied  troops. 

It  soon  became  evident  that  one  of  the  most  important  move- 
ments in  the  whole  war  was  being  carried  on.  The  Bulgarian 
armies  were  crumbling,  and  the  German  troops  sent  to  aid  them 
had  been  put  to  flight.  The  Allied  troops  had  advanced  on  an 
average  of  ten  miles  and  were  continuing  to  advance.  The  Serbs, 
fighting  at  last  near  their  own  homes,  were  showing  their  real 
military  strength.  Four  thousand  prisoners  had  been  taken,  with 
an  enormous  quantity  of  war  supplies.  The  Bulgarian  positions 
which  had  yielded  so  easily  were  positions  which  they  had  been 
fortifying  for  three  years,  and  had  been  previously  thought  to  be 
impregnable. 

On  September  23d  it  became  evident  that  the  retreat  of  the 
Bulgarians  had  turned  into  a  rout.  Notwithstanding  reinforce- 
ments of  Germans  and  Bulgars  rushed  down  in  a  frantic  effort  to 
check  them,  the  Allied  armies  were  advancing  on  an  eighty-five- 
mile  front,  crushing  all  resistance.  The  Italian  army,  on  the  west, 
was  meeting  with  equal  success,  and  the  news  dispatches  reported 
that  the  first  Bulgarian  army  in  the  region  of  Prilep  had  been  cut 
off.  A  dispatch  received  by  the  British  War  Office  reported  "As 
the  result  of  attacks  and  continual  heavy  pressure  by  British  and 
Greek  troops,  in  conjunction  with  the  French  and  Serbian  advance 
farther  west,  the  enemy  has  evacuated  his  whole  line  from  Doiran 
to  the  west  of  the  Vardar."  As  it  retreated  the  Bulgarian  army 
was  burning  supplies  and  destroying  ammunition  dumps,  burning 
railway  stations  and  ravaging  the  country. 

By  this  tune  it  was  felt  throughout  the  Allied  world  that  the 
Bulgarian  defeat  would  have  important  political  consequences. 
It  was  remembered  that  a  short  time  before  King  Ferdinand  had 
paid  a  visit  to  Germany,  and  after  long  conferences  with  the  German 
War  Lord,  had  hastily  returned  to  Bulgaria.  It  was  recalled  that 
there  had  been  many  signs  of  serious  disorder  in  Bulgaria,  where 
the  Socialist  party  had  been  in  close  touch  with  the  advance  parties 
in  the  Ukrainian  Republic.  It  seemed  possible  that  the  Bulgarian 
defeats  had  been  brought  about  by  Bulgarian  dissension  and  it 


BULGARIA  DESERTS  GERMANY  595 

was  also  evident  that  Germany  was  in  no  position  to  offer  effective 
support  to  its  Bulgarian  accomplice. 

As  the  days  passed  by  the  news  from  this  front  became  more 
and  more  favorable.  At  all  points  the  Bulgarian  armies  were 
retreating  in  the  most  disorderly  manner,  closely  pursued  by  the 
Serbians,  French,  English,  Italians,  and  Greeks.  Bulgarian  troops 
were  deserting  in  thousands,  and  thousands  of  others  were  sur- 
rendering without  resistance. 

On  September  26th  it  was  announced  that  the  Bulgar  front 
had  disappeared;  that  the  armies  had  been  cut  into  a  number  of 
groups  and  were  fleeing  before  the  Allied  troops.  Town  after 
town  was  being  captured,  with  enormous  quantities  of  stores. 
On  Friday,  September  27th,  it  was  announced  that  Bulgaria  had 
asked  the  Allies  for  an  armistice  of  forty-eight  hours,  with  a  view 
to  making  peace. 

The  situation  was  now  causing  intense  excitement.  The 
Germans  tried  to  minimize  the  Bulgarian  surrender.  A  dispatch 
from  Berlin  declared  that  Premier  Malinoff's  offer  of  an  armistice 
was  made  without  the  support  of  other  members  of  the  Cabinet 
or  of  King  Ferdinand,  and  that  Germany  would  make  a  solemn 
protest  against  it.  German  newspapers  were  demanding  that 
Malinoff  be  dismissed  immediately  and  court-martialed  for  high 
treason.  The  Berlin  message  asserted  that  the  Premier's  offer 
had  created  great  dissatisfaction  in  Bulgaria  and  that  strong 
military  measures  had  been  taken  to  support  the  Bulgarian  front. 
According  to  statements  from  Sofia  it  was  added  a  counter-move- 
ment against  the  action  of  the  Premier  had  already  been  set  on 
foot.  It  was  declared  in  Germany  that  the  Premier's  act  was  the 
result  of  Germany's  refusal  to  send  sufficient  reinforcements  to 
Bulgaria.  Secretary  Lansing  made  the  announcement  that  the 
United  States  Government  had  received  a  proposal  for  an  armistice. 

It  appeared  that  Bulgaria  had  been  maneuvering  toward  peace 
for  some  time.  The  Bulgarians  had  foreseen  their  inability  to  meet 
the  expected  Allied  attack,  and  had  made  every  effort  to  obtain 
German  reinforcements.  Moreover,  they  were  highly  dissatisfied 
with  the  treatment  they  had  received  from  Germany  in  connection 
with  Bulgaria's  dispute  with  Turkey  as  to  territorial  dispositions 
to  be  made  after  the  war.  Probably  the  most  important  reason, 
however,  for  the  Bulgarian  overthrow  was  that  by  this  time  they 


596  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

were  sick  of  the  war.  They  had  not,  in  the  first  place,  gone  into  it 
with  any  enthusiasm,  and  though  they  could  fight  bravely  enough 
against  their  Serbian  foe,  no  true  Bulgarian  could  ever  feel  him- 
self in  a  natural  position  facing  his  old-time  Russian  friend. 

Bulgaria  had  come  to  the  end.  Malinoff,  the  Premier,  had 
from  the  beginning  been  opposed  to  the  war.  Mobs  in  Sofia  were 
demanding  surrender.  Ferdinand  was  compelled  to  give  way  to 
the  wishes  of  his  Cabinet  and  his  people,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  he  had  promised  the  Kaiser  to  remain  faithful  to  the  Alliance, 
he  gave  his  consent  to  the  movement  for  unconditional  surrender. 

An  official  Bulgarian  statement  read  as  follows:  "In  view  of 
the  conjunction  of  circumstances  which  have  recently  arisen,  and 
after  the  position  had  been  jointly  discussed  with  all  competent 
authorities,  the  Bulgarian  Government,  desiring  to  put  an  end  to 
the  bloodshed,  has  authorized  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
army  to  propose  to  the  Generalissimo  of  the  armies  of  the  Entente 
at  Saloniki,  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  the  entering  into  of 
negotiations  for  obtaining  an  armistice  and  peace.  The  members 
of  the  Bulgarian  delegation  left  yesterday  evening  in  order  to  get 
into  touch  with  the  Plenipotentiaries  of  the  Entente  belligerents." 
This  statement  was  dated  September  24th. 

When  the  Bulgarian  officers  entrusted  with  the  proposal  for 
an  armistice  presented  themselves  at  Saloniki,  General  d'Esperey 
gave  the  folio  whig  reply:  "My  response  cannot  be,  by  reason  of 
the  military  situation,  other  than  the  following.  I  can  accord 
neither  an  armistice  nor  a  suspension  of  hostilities  tending  to 
interrupt  the  operations  in  course.  On  the  other  hand,  I  will 
receive  with  all  due  courtesy  the  delegates  duly  qualified  of  the 
Royal  Bulgarian  Government."  The  Bulgarian  delegates  were 
General  Lonkhoff,  commander  of  the  Bulgarian  Second  Army, 
M.  Liapcheff,  Finance  Minister,  and  M.  Radeff,  a  former  member 
of  the  Bulgarian  Cabinet. 

On  the  evening  of  the  29th  an  armistice  was  signed.  The 
terms  of  the  surrender  were  approved  by  the  Entente  govern- 
ments, and  hostilities  ceased  at  noon  September  30th.  The  terms 
of  the  armistice  were  as  follows: 

Bulgaria  agrees  to  evacuate  all  the  territory  she  now  occupies  in 
Greece  and  Serbia;  to  demobilize  her  army  immediately  and  surrender  all 
means  of  transport  to  the  Allies.  Bulgaria  also  will  surrender  her  boats 


BULGARIA  DESERTS   GERMANY  597 

and  control  of  navigation  on  the  Danube,  and  concede  to  the  Allies  free 
passage  through  Bulgaria  for  the  development  of  military  operations.  All 
Bulgarian  arms  and  ammunition  are  to  be  stored  under  the  control  of  the 
Allies,  to  whom  is  conceded  the  right  to  occupy  all  important  strategic 
points.  The  military  occupation  of  Bulgaria  will  be  entrusted  to  British, 
French  and  Italian  forces,  and  the  evacuated  portions  of  Greece  and 
Serbia,  respectively,  to  Greek  and  Serbian  troops. 

This  armistice  meant  a  complete  military  surrender,  and 
Bulgaria  ceased  to  be  a  belligerent.  All  questions  of  territorial 
rearrangement  in  the  Balkans  were  purposely  omitted  from  the 
Convention.  The  Allies  made  no  stipulation  concerning  King 
Ferdinand,  his  position  being  considered  an  internal  matter,  one 
for  the  Bulgarians  themselves  to  deal  with.  The  armistice  was  to 
remain  in  operation  until  the  final  general  peace  was  concluded. 

The  request  of  Bulgaria  for  an  armistice  and  peace,  stunned 
Germany,  which  at  that  time  was  living  in  an  atmosphere  of  political 
crisis  and  military  misfortune.  The  German  papers  laid  much 
of  the  blame  on  the  desperate  economic  conditions  in  Bulgaria, 
which  had  been  made  worse  by  political  strife. 

After  the  Bulgarian  collapse  the  Serbians,  with  the  other 
Allied  troops  who  had  just  captured  Uskub,  swept  northward  to 
drive  the  remaining  Germans  and  Austrians  out  of  Serbia  and 
beyond  the  Danube.  On  October  13th  they  captured  Nish,  thus 
cutting  the  famous  Orient  railroad  from  Berlin  to  Constantinople. 
German  authorities  announced  that  henceforth  trains  on  this 
line  would  run  only  to  the  Serbian  border. 

On  October  4th  King  Ferdinand  abdicated  his  throne  in  favor 
of  his  son  Crown  Prince  Boris,  and  left  Sofia  the  same  night  for 
Vienna.  Before  leaving  he  issued  the  following  manifesto  renounc- 
ing the  Bulgarian  crown: 

By  reason  of  the  succession  of  events  which  have  occurred  in  my 
kingdom,  and  which  demand  a  sacrifice  from  each  citizen,  even  to  the 
surrendering  of  oneself  for  the  well  being  of  all,  I  desire  to  give  as  the  first 
example  the  sacrifice  of  myself.  Despite  the  sacred  ties,  which  for  thirty- 
two  years  have  bound  me  so  firmly  to  this  countiy,  for  whose  prosperity 
and  greatness  I  have  given  all  my  powers,  I  have  decided  to  renounce  the 
royal  Bulgarian  crown  in  favor  of  my  eldest  son,  His  Highness  the  Prince 
Royal  Boris  of  Tirnovo.  I  call  upon  all  faithful  subjects  and  true  patriots 
to  unite  as  one  man  about  the  throne  of  King  Boris,  to  lift  the  country 
from  its  difficult  situation,  and  to  elevate  new  Bulgaria  to  the  height 
to  which  it  is  predestined. 


598  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Before  signing  his  declaration  of  abdication  he  had  consulted 
with  the  party  leaders  and  received  their  approval.  King  Ferdinand 
had  lost  his  popularity  ever  since  it  became  apparent  that  he  had 
made  a  mistake  in  siding  with  the  Teutonic  Powers.  He  was 
undoubtedly  in  fear  that  a  revolution  might  upset  the  whole 
dynasty.  Premier  MalinofF  announced  the  abdication  to  the 
Bulgarian  Parliament,  and  the  accession  of  Prince  Boris  to  the 
throne  was  received  with  much  enthusiasm.  The  church  bells 
were  rung,  and  great  crowds  gathered  in  the  streets. 

Speaking  from  the  steps  of  the  Palace  the  new  King  said: 
"I  thank  you  for  your  manifestation  of  patriotic  sentiments. 
I  have  faith  in  the  good  star  of  Bulgaria,  and  I  believe  that  the 
Bulgar  people,  by  their  good  qualities  and  co-operation,  are  directed 
to  a  brilliant  future."  King  Ferdinand,  it  was  given  out,  had 
renounced  politics  and  was  intending  in  the  future  to  devote  him- 
self to  his  favorite  pursuits,  chiefly  to  botany. 

The  surrender  of  Bulgaria  was  at  once  recognized  as  the  over- 
throw of  Germany's  "Mittel-Europa"  threat,  which  had  appar- 
ently been  carried  into  effect  when  Turkey  and  Bulgaria  joined  the 
Central  Powers.  It  had  for  a  long  tune  been  one  of  Germany's 
most  coveted  aims.  After  the  Franco-Prussian  war  the  German 
people  had  grown  enormously  in  wealth  and  hi  numbers.  It  had 
become  one  of  the  greatest  manufacturing  powers  in  the  world. 
Its  ships  were  transporting  its  commerce  on  every  sea,  but  it  was 
not  satisfied.  The  German  leaders,  most  of  whom  were  young 
men  at  the  tune  of  the  war  with  France,  and  had  been  deeply 
impressed  by  a  sense  of  the  German  power,  were  full  of  the  idea 
that  Germany  was  the  greatest  of  nations,  and  that  she  should 
impress  her  will  on  all  the  world. 

They  might  have  done  this  peacefully,  for  the  seas  were  free, 
but  German  self-esteem  was  not  satisfied  with  peaceful  progress. 
They  felt  that  it  was  necessary  to  reach  out  in  the  world  for  colonies. 
They  seized  a  province  in  China.  They  meddled  with  affairs  in 
Morocco.  They  annexed  colonies  in  Africa,  but  none  of  these 
projects  were  wholly  satisfactory.  They  provided  no  great  outlet 
for  the  products  of  their  workshops,  nor  for  their  overflow  popula- 
tion, which  largely  went  to  North  and  South  America  and  became 
citizens  of  these  foreign  nations. 

Their  eyes  finally  turned  to  the  great  East.     There  hi  China 


BULGARIA  DESERTS  GERMANY 


599 


and  India  and  the  neighboring  countries  were  three  hundred 
millions  of  men  whose  trade  would  be  a  worthy  prize  for  even 
Germany's  ambition.  Then  began  the  development  of  what  is 
sometimes  called  Germany's  Mittel-Europa  dream.  Her  scholars 
encouraged  it;  her  travelers  brought  reports  which  stimulated  the 
interest,  and  soon  she  began  practically  to  carry  it  into  effect. 


GERMANY'S 
CORRIDOR 


How  THE  PAN-GEBMANB  PLANNED  TO  EXTEND  THEIB  **MITTEL-EUEOPA"  DBBAM 

It  meant  the  building  of  a  great  railroad  down  to  the  Persian  Gulf  ; 
a  railroad  to  be  controlled  by  nations  where  her  influence  would 
be  all-powerful.  ^She  needed  Austria,  she  needed  Serbia,  she 
needed  Bulgaria  and  Turkey. 

At  first  the  project  was  carried  out  peacefully.  Friendly 
relations  were  stimulated  with  Turkey  and  the  other  necessary 
powers;  permits  were  obtained  to  build  the  railroad.  But  Germany 
was  not  the  only  power  that  had  dreamed  this  dream.  Alexander 
the  Great  had  done  it.  Napoleon  had  done  it,  and  England  had 


600  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

carried  it  out.  From  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth  the  English 
control  of  India  was  one  of  its  greatest  assets. 

Through  most  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  English  power 
in  the  East  was  threatened,  not  by  Germany,  but  by  Russia.  It 
was  because  of  this  threat  that  England  had  always  protected 
Turkey.  Turkey  and  Constantinople  were  her  barrier  against 
Russia.  The  literature  of  England  in  the  last  days  of  the  nineteenth 
century  shows  clearly  her  fear  of  Russian  intrigues  in  India.  Kip- 
ling's Indian  stories  are  full  of  it.  But  now  that  fear  had  passed. 
It  was  no  longer  the  imaginary  danger  which  might  come  from  the 
great  Slavic  Empire,  but  a  trade  weapon  hi  the  grasp  of  the  most 
efficient  military  power  ever  developed  that  was  threatening. 
Against  this  threat  England  had  been  doing  her  best.  Here  and 
there  near  the  Persian  Gulf  she  had  been  extending  her  influence. 
Here  and  there,  as  German  Consuls  obtained  concessions,  they 
would  find  them  later  withdrawn,  because  England  had  stepped  in. 
Yet  just  before  the  war  England,  anxious  for  peace,  had  come  to  an 
agreement  with  Germany  practically  admitting  the  German  plans 
to  be  carried  out  as  far  as  Bagdad. 

It  looked  as  though  it  were  only  a  question  of  time,  but  when 
the  Balkan  wars  established  Serbia  as  the  greatest  of  the  Balkan 
powers,  and  gave  Russia  a  preponderating  influence  among  the 
Balkan  nations,  and  when  it  began  to  look  as  if  some  great  Balkan 
state  might  be  established  which  should  be  friendly  to  Russia  and 
consequently  a  hindrance  to  the  German  scheme,  then  it  was  that 
it  was  necessary  that  war  should  come.  The  Germans  had  been 
wonderfully  successful.  For  a  time  they  controlled  Austria, 
Bulgaria,  Serbia  and  Turkey,  but  with  Bulgaria's  fall  the  end 
had  come.  -They  were  compelled  to  awake  from  then*  Mittel- 
Europa  dream. 


Ch 

a 


-3 
eS 


H-i 


CHAPTER  XLVI1 

THE  CENTRAL  EMPIRES  WHINE  FOR  PEACE 

THE  Allied  victories  in  France  during  the  months  of  August 
and  September  of  1918,  led  to  a  new  peace  offensive  among 
the  Central  Powers.  It  was  very  plain  to  the  German 
High  Command,  as  well  as  to  the  Allied  leaders,  that 
Germany's  great  ambitions  had  now  been  definitely  thwarted.  It 
seems  clear  that,  in  spite  of  the  hopeful  and  encouraging  words 
which  they  addressed  to  their  own  armies,  the  expert  soldiers, 
who  were  controlling  the  destinies  of  Germany,  understood  well 
the  conditions  they  were  facing.  Putting  aside  all  sentiment, 
therefore,  they  deliberately  set  out  to  obtain  a  peace  which  would 
leave  them  an  opportunity  to  gam  by  diplomacy  what  they  were 
sure  that  they  were  about  to  lose  on  the  field  of  battle.  They  had 
made  pleas  for  peace  before,  but  their  pleas  had  been  rejected. 

The  Allied  leaders  were  fighting  for  a  principle.  They  could 
not  be  satisfied  with  a  draw.  They  could  not  be  satisfied  if  Ger- 
many were  left  in  a  position  which  would  enable  her  after  a  rest 
of  a  few  years  to  renew  her  effort  to  impose  her  will  upon  the  world. 
It  was  unanimously  recognized  that  the  war  must  be  carried  on 
to  the  very  end.  The  Allies  took  this  position  when  the  fortunes 
of  war  seemed  to  have  gone  against  them,  when  Russia  was  defeated, 
Roumania  and  Serbia  crushed,  and  the  German  lines  in  France 
were  approaching  the  capital.  It  was  unlikely  that  now,  when 
Germany  was  suffering  defeat  and  every  day  was  yielding  the 
Allied  armies  encouraging  gains,  there  should  be  any  change  in 
the  strong  determination  of  the  Allied  leaders.  Nevertheless,  it 
was  necessary  to  make  the  attempt. 

On  September  15th,  the  Austro-Hungarian  Government 
addressed  a  communication  to  the  Allied  Powers  and  to  the  Holy 
See  suggesting  a  meeting  for  a  confidential  and  non-binding  dis- 
cussion of  war  aims,  with  a  view  to  the  possible  calling  of  a  peace 
conference. 

The  official  communication  from  the  Austro-Hungarian  Gov- 

608 


604  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

eminent  was  handed  to  Secretary  of  State  Lansing  in  Washington 
at  6.20  o'clock  on  September  16th. 

At  6.45  the  following  abbreviated  reply  of  the  United  States 
Government  was  made  public,  by  the  Secretary  of  State: 

I  am  authorized  by  the  President  to  state  that  the  following  will  be 
the  reply  of  this  government  to  the  Austro-Hungarian  note  proposing  an 
unofficial  conference  of  belligerents.  "The  Government  of  the  United 
States  feels  that  there  is  only  one  reply  which  it  can  make  to  the  suggestion 
of  the  Austro-Hungarian  Government.  It  has  repeatedly  and  with 
entire  candor  stated  the  terms  upon  which  the  United  States  would  con- 
sider peace,  and  can  and  will  entertain  no  proposal  for  a  conference  upon 
the  matter  concerning  which  it  has  made  its  position  and  purpose  so  plain." 

Arthur  J.  Balfour,  the  British  Foreign  Secretary,  in  a  state- 
ment made  September  16th  said:  "It  is  incredible  that  anything 
can  come  of  this  proposal.  .  .  .  This  cynical  proposal  of  the 
Austrian  Government  is  not  a  genuine  attempt  to  obtain  peace. 
It  is  an  attempt  to  divide  the  Allies."  Premier  Clemenceau  in 
France  took  similar  grounds,  and  stated  in  the  French  Senate: 
"We  will  fight  until  the  hour  when  the  enemy  comes  to  understand 
that  bargaining  between  crime  and  right  is  no  longer  possible. 
We  want  a  just  and  a  strong  peace,  protecting  the  future  against 
the  abominations  of  the  past."  Italy  joined  with  her  Allies  and 
declared  that  a  negotiated  peace  was  impossible. 

The  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  Allies  to  respond  to  the  Austrian 
peace  proposal  evidently  greatly  disturbed  the  German  leaders. 
The  continued  German  reverses,  and  the  surrender  of  Bulgaria 
had  taken  away  all  hope.  They  were  anxious  to  conclude  some 
kind  of  peace  before  meeting  irretrievable  disaster.  They  there- 
fore determined  to  appoint  as  Chancellor  of  the  Empire  some 
statesman  who  might  be  represented  as  a  supporter  of  an  honest 
peace,  and  Count  von  Hertling,  whose  previous  utterances  might 
put  under  suspicion  any  peace  move  coming  from  him,  was  removed 
and  Prince  Maximilian  of  Baden  appointed  as  his  successor  on 
September  30th. 

Prince  Maximilian  was  put  forward  as  a  Moderate,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  evident  purpose  of  the  government  to  continue  peace 
proposals.  He  was  the  heir  apparent  to  the  Grand  Ducal  throne 
of  Baden,  and  was  the  first  man  in  public  life  in  Germany  to  declare 
that  the  Empire  could  not  conquer  by  the  sword  alone.  He  did 


CENTRAL  EMPIRES  WHINE  FOR  PEACE     605 

this  in  an  address  to  the  Upper  Chamber  in  Baden,  of  which  he 
was  President,  on  December  15,  1917.  "Power  alone  can  never 
secure  our  position,"  he  said,  "and  our  sword  alone  will  never  be 
able  to  tear  down  the  opposition  to  us." 

At  the  same  time  he  made  an  attack  upon  the  ideals  set  up 
by  President  Wilson.  "President  Wilson,"  he  continued,  "after 
three  years  of  war  gathers  together  all  the  outworn  slogans  of  the 
Entente  of  1914,  and  denounces  Germany  as  the  disturber  of  the 
peace,  proclaiming  a  crusade  for  humanity,  liberty  and  the  rights 
of  small  nations."  Then,  forgetting  that  the  United  States  had 
entered  the  war  nearly  a  month  after  the  abdication  of  the  Czar 
of  Russia,  he  added:  "President  Wilson  has  no  right  to  speak  in 
the  name  of  democracy  and  liberty,  for  he  was  the  mighty  war 
ally  of  Russian  Czardom,  but  he  had  deaf  ears  when  the  Russian 
democracy  appealed  to  him  to  allow  it  to  discuss  peace  conditions." 
The  Baden  address  created  a  great  sensation  all  over  Germany, 
which  was  increased  when,  in  an  interview  in  January,  he  declared 
that  all  ideas  of  conquest  must  be  abandoned,  and  that  Germany 
must  serve  as  a  bulwark  to  prevent  the  spread  of  Bolshevism  among 
the  western  nations. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  appointment  of  Prince 
Maximilian  was  a  definite  attempt  to  seek  peace.  It  was  thought 
that  he  would  be  recognized  by  the  Allied  leaders  as  an  honest 
friend  of  peace,  and  that  any  effort  he  would  make  would  be 
treated  with  respect.  He  was,  however,  a  vigorous  supporter  of 
the  Kaiser  and  of  German  autocracy,  and  while  his  appointment 
might  mean  that  Germany  was  desirous  of  peace  it  did  not  mean 
that  she  had  changed  her  ways.  Three  days  before  the  appoint- 
ment of  Prince  Maximilian,  President  Wilson,  in  an  address  delivered 
in  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  in  New  York,  had  restated  the 
issues  of  the  war,  declaring  (1)  for  impartial  justice,  (2)  settlement 
to  be  made  in  the  common  interests  of  all,  (3)  no  leagues  within 
the  common  family  of  the  league  of  nations,  (4)  no  selfish  economic 
combination  within  that  league,  and  (5)  all  international  agree- 
ments and  treaties  of  every  kind  must  be  made  known  in  their 
entirety  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Prince  Maximilian,  coming  into  power  undoubtedly  for  the 
purpose  of  arranging  a  peace,  proceeded  at  once  to  make  a  new 
peace  offer.  He  based  his  action  on  President  Wilson's  speech 


606  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

and  on  October  4th  sent  to  President  Wilson,  through  the  Swiss 
Government,  the  following  note: 

The  German  Government  requests  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  take  in  hand  the  restoration  of  peace,  acquaint  all  the  belligerent 
states  with  this  request,  and  invite  them  to  send  plenipotentiaries  for  the 
purpose  of  opening  negotiations.  It  accepts  the  program  set  forth  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  in  his  message  to  Congress  on  January  8th, 
and  in  his  later  pronouncements,  especially  his  speech  of  September  27th, 
as  a  basis  for  peace  negotiations.  With  a  view  to  avoiding  further  blood- 
shed the  German  Government  requests  the  immediate  conclusion  of  an 
armistice  on  land  and  on  water  and  in  the  air. 

He  followed  this  note  on  October  5th  with  an  address  before 
the  German  Reichstag,  of  which  the  following  are  the  most  impor- 
tant points: 

In  accordance  with  the  Imperial  decree  of  September  30th,  the 
German  Empire  has  undergone  a  basic  alteration  of  its  politic  leadership. 
As  successor  to  Count  George  F.  von  Hertling,  whose  services  in  behalf  of 
the  Fatherland  deserve  the  highest  acknowledgment,  I  have  been  sum- 
moned by  the  Emperor  to  lead  the  new  government.  In  accordance  with 
the  governmental  method  now  introduced  I  submit  to  the  Reichstag, 
publicly  and  without  delay,  the  principles  by  which  I  propose  to  conduct 
the  grave  responsibilities  of  the  office.  These  principles  were  firmly 
established  by  the  agreement  of  the  federated  governments  and  the 
leaders  of  the  majority  parties  in  this  honorable  House  before  I  decided 
to  assume  the  djaties  of  Chancellor.  They  contain  therefore  not  only  my 
own  confession  of  political  faith,  but  that  of  an  overwhelming  portion  of 
the  German  people's  representatives — that  is,  of  the  German  nation — 
which  has  constituted  the  Reichstag  on  the  basis  of  a  general,  equal,  and 
secret  franchise  and  according  to  their  will. 

Only  the  fact  that  I  know  the  conviction  and  will  of  the  majority 
of  the  people  are  back  of  me,  has  given  me  strength  to  take  upon  myself 
conduct  of  the  Empire's  affairs  in  this  hard  and  earnest  time  in  which  we 
are  living.  One  man's  shoulders  would  be  too  weak  to  carry  alone  the 
tremendous  responsibility  which  falls  upon  the  government  at  present. 
Only  if  the  people  take  active  part  in  the  broader  sense  of  the  word  in 
deciding  then*  destinies,  in  other  words,  if  responsibility  also  extends  to 
the  majority  of  their  freely  elected  political  leaders,  can  the  leading  states- 
man confidently  assume  his  part  of  the  responsibility  in  the  service  of  folk 
and  Fatherland. 

My  resolve  to  this  has  been  especially  lightened  for  me  by  the  fact 
that  prominent  leaders  of  the  laboring  class  have  found  a  way  in  the 
new  government  to  the  highest  offices  of  the  Empire.  I  see  therein  a  sure 
guarantee  that  the  new  government  will  be  supported  by  the  confidence 


CENTRAL  EMPIRES   WHINE   FOR  PEACE    607 

of  the  broad  masses  of  the  people,  without  whose  true  support  the  whole 
undertaking  would  be  compelled  to  failure  in  advance.  Hence  what  I 
say  today  is  not  only  in  my  own  name,  and  those  of  my  official  helpers, 
but  in  the  name  of  the  German  people. 

The  program  of  the  majority  parties,  upon  which  I  take  my  stand, 
contains  first,  an  acceptance  of  the  answer  of  the  former  Imperial  Govern- 
ment to  Pope  Benedict's  note  of  August  1,  1916,  and  an  unconditional 
acceptance  of  the  Reichstag  resolution  of  July  19th,  the  same  year.  It 
further  declares  willingness  to  join  the  general  league  of  nations  based  on 
the  foundation  of  equal  rights  for  all,  both  strong  and  weak.  It  considers 
the  solution  of  the  Belgian  question  to  lie  in  the  complete  rehabilitation 
of  Belgium,  particularly  of  its  independence  and  territorial  integrity. 
An  effort  shall  also  be  made  to  reach  an  understanding  on  the  question  of 
indemnity. 

The  program  will  not  permit  the  peace  treaties  hitherto  concluded  to 
be  a  hindrance  to  the  conclusion  of  the  general  peace.  Its  particular  aim 
is  that  popular  representative  bodies  shall  be  formed  immediately  on  a 
broad  basis  in  the  Baltic  provinces,  in  Lithuania  and  Poland.  We  will 
promote  the  realization  of  necessary  preliminary  conditions  therefore 
without  delay  by  the  introduction  of  civilian  rule.  All  these  lands  shall 
regulate  their  constitutions  and  their  relations  wi'h  neighboring  peoples 
without  external  interference. 

He  went  on  to  point  out  the  progressive  political  developments 
in  Prussia  and  declared  that  the  "message  of  the  King  of  Prussia 
promising  the  democratic  franchise  must  be  fulfilled  quickly  and 
completely." 

President  Wilson  did  not  find  Prince  Maximilian's  proposal 
wholly  satisfactory,  and  on  October  8th,  he  inquired  of  the 
Imperial  Chancellor  whether  the  meaning  of  the  proposal  was  that 
the  German  Government  accepted  the  terms  laid  down  in  his  ad- 
dress to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  and  in  subsequent  ad- 
dresses; and  whether  its  object  in  entering  into  discussions  would 
be  only  to  agree  upon  the  practical  details  of  their  application. 
He  also  suggested  that  so  long  as  the  armies  of  the  Central  Powers 
were  upon  the  soil  of  the  governments  with  which  the  United 
States  was  associated,  he  would  not  feel  at  liberty  to  propose  a 
cessation  of  arms  to  those  governments.  He  also  inquired  whether 
the  Imperial  Chancellor  was  speaking  merely  for  the  constituted 
authorities  of  the  Empire,  who  had  so  far  conducted  the  war. 

President  Wilson's  reply  aroused  much  difference  of  opinion 
among  the  Allies,  but  on  the  whole  was  regarded  as  a  clever  dip- 
lomatic move. 


608  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  German  Government  responded  to  these  questions  of  the 
President  on  October  12th,  by  a  message  signed  by  Dr.  W.  S.  Solf, 
who  had  just  been  appointed  Imperial  Foreign  Secretary.  In  this 
reply  the  German  Government  declared  that  it  did  accept  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  terms;  that  it  was  ready  to  comply  with  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  President  and  withdraw  its  troops  from  Allied  territory, 
and  that  the  German  Government  was  representing  in  all  its  actions 
the  will  of  the  great  majority  of  the  German  people. 

Germany  had,  indeed,  made  enormous  concessions,  and  the 
German  people  appeared  to  have  taken  for  granted  that  such  an 
offer  would  be  accepted.  An  Amsterdam  despatch  declared: 
"People  hi  Berlin  are  kissing  one  another  in  the  street,  though  they 
are  perfect  strangers  and  shouting  peace  congratulations  to  each 
other.  The  only  words  heard  anywhere  in  Germany  are  '  Peace 
at  last'." 

The  President  however,  had  been  struck  by  the  news  coming  in 
from  day  to  day  of  new  atrocities  hi  France,  and  of  new  cases  of 
submarine  murders,  and  in  his  reply  of  October  14th,  he  declared 
that  while  he  was  ready  to  refer  the  question  of  an  armistice  to  the 
judgment  and  advice  of  military  advisers  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States  and  the  Allied  governments,  he  felt  sure  that 
none  of  those  governments  would  consent  to  consider  an  armistice 
as  long  as  the  armed  forces  of  Germany  continued  the  illegal  and 
inhuman  practices  which  they  were  persisting  in.  He  also  empha- 
sized the  fact  that  no  armistice  would  be  accepted  that  would 
not  provide  absolutely  satisfactory  safeguards  and  guarantees  of 
the  maintenance  of  the  military  supremacy  of  the  armies  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  Allies  in  the  field.  The  President  also 
called  the  attention  of  the  Government  of  Germany  to  that  clause 
of  his  address  on  the  Fourth  of  July  in  which  he  had  demanded 
"the  destruction  of  every  arbitrary  power  that  can  separately, 
secretly  and  of  its  single  choice  disturb  the  peace  of  the  world, 
or,  if  it  cannot  be  presently  destroyed,  at  least  its  reduction  to 
virtual  impotency."  He  declared  that  the  power  which  had  hitherto 
controlled  the  German  nation  was  of  the  sort  thus  described,  and 
that  its  alteration  actually  constituted  a  condition  precedent  to 
peace. 

This  answer  of  the  President  was  greeted  with  approval  in 
the  United  States  and  everywhere  hi  the  Allied  countries.  It 


CENTRAL  EMPIRES  WHINE  FOR  PEACE    609 

meant  that  the  Imperial  Power  of  Germany  was  not  to  be  allowed 
to  hide  itself  behind  a  so-called  reorganization  done  under  its  own 
direction.  As  one  of  the  Senators  of  the  United  States  expressed 
it:  "It  is  an  uneauivocal  demand  that  the  Hohenzollerns  shall  get 
out." 

During  these  negotiations  the  Allied  armies  under  Marshal 
Foch  had  been  driving  the  enemy  before  them.  When  Baron 
Burian  was  making  his  peace  offer  on  behalf  of  Austria-Hungary 
the  Americans  were  engaged  in  pinching  off  the  St.  Mihiel  salient, 
and  about  that  date  the  British  were  launching  their  great  attack 
on  the  St.  Quentin  defenses.  The  reports  of  the  great  Allied  drive 
indicated  a  constant  succession  of  Allied  victories. 

On  September  19th,  the  British  advanced  into  the  Hinden- 
burg  line,  northwest  of  St.  Quentin,  and  on  September  20th,  while 
the  American  guns  were  shelling  Metz,  the  British  were  advancing 
steadily  near  Cambrai  and  La  Bassee. 

Day  by  day  the  advance  proceeded.  On  September  26th,  the 
first  American  army  smashed  through  the  Hindenburg  line  for  an 
average  gain  of  seven  miles,  between  the  Meuse  and  the  Aisne  rivers 
on  a  twenty-mile  front.  On  September  27th,  the  French  gained  five 
miles  hi  an  advance  east  of  Rheims,  and  the  British  were  attacking 
hi  the  Cambrai  sector  on  a  fourteen-mile  front,  crossing  the  Canal 
du  Nord  and  piercing  the  Hindenburg  line  at  several  points.  On 
September  28th,  the  Americans  reached  the  Kriemhilde  line, 
while  the  British  were  close  in  on  Cambrai.  On  September  30th, 
the  British  took  Messines  Ridge,  while  the  French  were  still 
advancing  between  the  Aisne  and  Vesle  Rivers.  On  October  1st, 
the  French  troops  entered  St.  Quentin  and  the  British  took  the 
northern  and  western  suburbs  of  Cambrai.  During  the  next  week 
an  enveloping  movement  was  instituted  north  and  south  of  Lille. 
On  October  5th,  the  Germans  evacuated  Lille,  on  October  9th  the 
British  took  Cambrai. 

In  these  drives  the  American  colored  troops  played  a  con- 
spicuous part.  The  entire  Three  hundred  and  sixty-fifth  regiment, 
composed  wholly  of  colored  troops,  was  later  awarded  the  coveted 
Croix  de  Guerre,  or  War  Cross,  by  the  French  Government.  It 
was  a  well-deserved  honor,  for  the  boys  of  the  Three  hundred 
and  sixty-fifth  bore  themselves  with  great  gallantry  in  the 
September  and  October  offensive  in  the  Champagne  sector  and 


610  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

suffered  heavy  losses.  In  conferring  the  Croix  de  Guerre,  the 
citation  dealt  in  considerable  detail  with  the  valor  of  particular 
officers  and  praised  the  courage  and  tenacity  of  the  whole 
regiment. 

The  Germans  were  retreating  in  Belgium  day  by  day,  under 
the  attacks  of  the  Belgian  and  French  armies.  On  October  llth 
the  Germans  evacuated  the  Chemin  des  Dames.  On  October  16th 
the  Germans  began  the  evacuation  of  the  Belgian  coast  region  and 
each  day  increased  the  number  of  Belgian  towns  once  more  hi 
Allied  control. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII 
BATTLES  IN  THE  Ani 

HE  WHO  conquers  the  fear  of  death  is  master  of  his  fate. 
Upon  this  philosophy  fifty  thousand  young  men  of  the 
warring  nations  went  forth  to  do  battle  among  the  clouds. 
The  story  of  these  battles  is  the  real  romance  of  the 
World  War.  In  1914  no  one  had  ever  known  and  history  had 
never  recorded  a  struggle  to  the  death  in  the  air.  When  the  war 
ended  a  new  literature  of  adventure  had  been  created,  a  literature 
emblazoned  with  superb  heroisms,  with  God-like  daring,  and  with 
such  utter  disdain  of  death  that  they  were  raised  out  of  the  olden 
ranks  of  mere  earth-crawling  mankind  and  became  supermen  of 
the  air. 

Some  of  these  heroic  names  became  household  words  during  the 
war.  These  were  the  aces  of  the  French,  American  and  German 
air-forces.  The  British  adopted  a  policy  in  news  concerning  then* 
airmen  similar  to  that  governing  then*  publication  of  submarine 
sinkings.  They  argued  that  the  naming  of  British,  Canadian  and 
Australian  aces  would  direct  the  attacks  of  German  aviators  against 
the  most  useful  men  in  the  British  forces.  They  also  felt  that 
publicity  would  tend  toward  the  swagger  which  in  English  slang 
was  "swank"  and  toward  a  deterioration  in  discipline. 

Raoul  Lufberry,  Quentin  Roosevelt,  son  of  ex-President 
Roosevelt,  and  Edward  Rickenbacher  were  names  that  figured 
extensively  in  news  of  the  American  air  forces. 

Lufberry  and  Roosevelt  were  killed  in  action.  Rickenbacher, 
after  dozens  of  hair-raising  escapes  from  death,  came  through  the 
war  without  injury.  The  pioneer  of  American  aviators  in  the  war 
was  William  Thaw  of  Yale,  who  formed  the  original  Lafayette 
Escadrille. 

Besides  these  men,  America  produced  a  number  of  other 
brilliant  aces,  an  ace  being  one  who  brought  down  five  enemy 
planes,  each  victory  being  attested  by  at  least  three  witnesses. 

611 


612  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  French  had  as  their  outstanding  aces  Georges  Guynemer 
and  Rene  Fonck.  Guynemer  went  into  the  flying  game  as  a 
mechanician.  He  became  the  most  formidable  human  fighting 
machine  on  the  western  front  before  he  was  sent  to  death  in  a 
blazing  airplane. 

Lieut.  Rene  Fonck  ended  the  war  with  a  total  of  seventy-five 
official  aerial  victories.  He  had  an  additional  forty  Huns  to  his 
credit  but  not  officially  confirmed.  His  greatest  day  was  when 
he  brought  down  six  planes.  His  quickest  work  was  the  shooting 
down  of  three  Germans  in  twenty  seconds. 

He  fought  three  distinct  battles  in  the  ah*  when,  on  May  8, 
1918,  he  brought  down  six  German  airplanes  in  one  day.  All  three 
engagements  were  fought  within  two  hours.  In  all,  Fonck  fired 
only  fifty-six  shots,  an  average  of  little  more  than  nine  bullets  for 
each  enemy  brought  down — an  extraordinary  record,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  aviators  often  fired  hundreds  of  rounds  without  crippling 
their  opponent. 

The  first  fight,  m  which  Lieutenant  Fonck  brought  down  three 
German  machines,  lasted  only  a  minute  and  a  half,  and  the  young 
Frenchman  fired  only  twenty-two  shots.  Fonck  was  leading  two 
other  companions  on  a  patrol  hi  the  Moreuil-Montdidier  sector  on 
May  8th,  when  the  French  squadron  met  three  German  two-seater 
airplanes  coming  toward  them  in  arrow  formation.  Signaling  to 
his  companions,  Lieutenant  Fonck  dived  at  the  leading  German 
plane  and,  with  a  few  shots  sent  it  down  in  flames.  Fonck  turned 
to  the  left,  and  the  second  enemy  flier  followed  in  an  effort  to 
attack  him  from  behind,  but  the  Frenchman  made  a  quick  turn 
above  him  and,  with  five  shots,  sent  the  second  German  to 
death.  Ten  seconds  had  barely  elapsed  between  the  two  victories. 

The  third  enemy  pilot  headed  for  home,  but  when  Lieutenant 
Fonck  apparently  gave  up  the  chase  and  turned  back  toward  the 
French  lines  the  German  went  after  him,  and  was  flying  parallel 
and  a  little  below,  when  Fonck  made  a  quick  turn,  drove  straight 
at  him  and  sent  him  down  within  half  a  mile  of  the  spot  where  his 
two  comrades  hit  the  earth. 

The  German  heroes  were  the  celebrated  Captain  Boelke,  and 
the  no  less  famous  inventor  of  the  " flying  circus,"  Count  von 
Richthofen.  Captain  Boelke  caused  a  great  many  Allied  " crashes" 
by  hiding  in  clouds  and  diving  straight  at  planes  flying  beneath 


BATTLES  IN  THE  AIR  613 

him.  As  he  came  within  range,  he  opened  up  with  a  stream  of 
machine-gun  bullets.  If  he  failed  to  get  his  prey,  his  rush  carried 
him  past  his  opponent  into  safety.  He  rarely  re-attacked.  Count 
von  Richthofen  was  responsible  for  many  airplane  squadron 
tactics  that  later  were  used  on  both  sides.  The  planes  under  his 
command  were  gaily  painted  for  easy  identification  during  the 
thick  of  a  fight.  Their  usual  method  was  to  cut  off  single  planes  or 
small  groups  of  Allied  planes,  and  to  circle  around  them  hi  the 
method  employed  by  Admiral  Dewey  for  the  reduction  of  the 
Spanish  forts  and  ships  hi  the  Battle  of  Manila  Bay. 

The  dangers  of  aerial  warfare  were  instrumental  in  producing 
high  chivalry  in  all  the  encampments  of  air  men.  Graves  of  fallen 
aviators  were  marked  and  decorated  by  their  former  foes,  and 
captured  aviators  received  exceptionally  good  treatment,  where- 
foemen  aviators  could  procure  such  treatment  for  them. 

Until  the  advent  of  America  into  the  war,  neither  side  had  a 
marked  advantage  hi  aircraft.  At  first  Germany  had  a  slight 
advantage;  then  the  balance  swung  to  the  Allied  side;  but  at  no 
tune  was  the  scale  tipped  very  much.  American  quantity  pro- 
duction of  airplanes,  however,  gave  to  the  Entente  Allies  an  over- 
whelming advantage.  Final  standardization  of  tools  and  design 
for  the  "Soul  of  the  American  Airplane"  was  not  accomplished 
until  February,  1918.  Yet  within  eight  months  more  than  15,000 
Liberty  engines,  each  of  them  fully  tested  and  of  the  highest  quality, 
were  delivered. 

The  United  States  did  not  follow  European  types  of  engines, 
but  hi  a  wonderfully  short  time  developed  an  engine  standardized 
in  the  most  recent  efficiency  of  American  industries. 

According  to  Secretary  of  War  Baker,  an  inspiring  feature  of 
this  work  was  the  aid  rendered  by  consulting  engineers  and  motor 
manufacturers,  who  gave  up  their  trade  secrets  under  the  emergency 
of  war  needs.  Realizing  that  the  new  design  would  be  a  govern- 
ment design  and  no  firm  or  individual  would  reap  selfish  benefit 
because  of  its  making,  the  motor  manufacturers,  nevertheless, 
patriotically  revealed  their  trade  secrets  and  made  available  trade 
processes  of  great  commercial  value.  These  industries  also  con- 
tributed the  services  of  approximately  two  hundred  of  their  best 
draftsmen.  Parts  of  the  first  engine  were  turned  out  at  twelve 
different  factories,  located  all  the  way  from  Connecticut  to  Cali- 


614  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

fornia.  When  the  parts  were  assembled  the  adjustment  was 
perfect  and  the  performance  of  the  engine  was  wonderfully  grat- 
ifying. 

Thirty  days  after  the  assembling  of  the  first  engine  pre- 
liminary tests  justified  the  government  in  formally  accepting  the 
engine  as  the  best  aircraft  engine  produced  in  any  country.  The 
final  tests  confirmed  the  faith  in  the  new  motor. 

British  and  French  machines  as  a  rule  were  not  adapted  to 
American  manufacturing  methods.  They  were  highly  specialized 
machines,  requiring  much  hand  work  from  mechanics,  who  were, 
in  fact,  artisans. 

The  standardized  United  States  aviation  engine,  produced 
under  government  supervision,  said  Secretary  of  War  Baker,  was 
expected  "to  solve  the  problem  of  building  first-class,  powerful  and 
yet  comparatively  delicate  aviation  engines  by  American  machine 
methods — the  same  standardized  methods  which  revolutionized 
the  automobile  industry  in  this  country." 

The  manufacture  of  De  Haviland  airplanes  equipped  with 
Liberty  motors  was  a  factor  in  the  war.  One  of  these  De  Havilands 
without  tuning  up,  made  a  non-stop  trip  on  November  11,  1918, 
from  Dayton,  Ohio,  to  Washington,  D.  C.,  a  distance  of  430  miles, 
in  three  hours  and  fifty  minutes.  Great  battle  squadrons  of  these 
De  Haviland  planes  equipped  with  Liberty  motors  made  bombing 
raids  over  the  German  lines  in  the  Verdun  sector.  Others  operated 
as  scouting  and  reconnaissance  planes  and  as  spotters  for  American 
artillery. 

In  the  period  from  September  12th  to  11  o'clock  on  the  morning 
ol  November  llth,  the  American  aviators  brought  down  473  Ger- 
man machines.  Of  this  number,  353  were  confirmed  officially. 
Day  bombing  groups,  from  the  time  they  began  operations,  dropped 
a  total  of  116,818  kilograms  of  bombs  within  the  German  lines. 

Bombing  operations  were  begun  in  August  by  the  96th  Squa- 
dron, which  hi  five  flying  days  dropped  18,080  kilograms  of  bombs. 
The  first  day  bombardment  group  began  work  in  September,  the 
group  including  the  96th,  the  20th  and  llth  Squadrons.  The 
166th  Squadron  joined  the  group  in  November. 

In  twelve  flying  days  in  September  the  bombers  dropped 
3,466  kilograms  of  bombs;  in  fifteen  flying  days  in  October,  46,133 
kilograms,  and  in  four  flying  days  in  November,  17,979  kilograms. 


BATTLES  IN  THE  AIR  615 

On  November  llth,  the  day  of  the  signing  of  the  armistice, 
there  were  actually  engaged  on  the  front  740  American  planes, 
744  pilots,  457  observers  and  23  aerial  gunners. 

Of  the  total  number  of  planes,  329  were  of  the  pursuit  type, 
296  were  for  observation  and  115  were  bombers.  In  addition, 
several  hundred  planes  of  various  types  were  being  used  at  the 
instruction  camps  when  the  war  ended. 

America,  although  the  last  of  the  great  nations  to  embark  upon 
a  great  aircraft  production  program,  was  the  birthplace  of  the 
airplane,  the  Wright  Brothers  being  the  undisputed  inventors  of 
the  modern  type. 

Wilbur  and  Orville  Wright  made  their  first  experiments 
hi  flying  at  Kittyhawk,  N.  C.  Their  first  attempts  were  of  a  gliding 
nature  and  were  accomplished  by  starting  from  the  top  of  a  dune 
or  sand  hill,  the  operator  lying  full  length,  face  downward,  on  the 
under  plane  of  the  machine.  During  these  experiments  they  suc- 
ceeded in  flying  six  hundred  feet. 

Their  first  flight  with  an  airplane  driven  by  a  motor  was  on 
December  17,  1903,  when  they  succeeded  in  flying  about  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy  yards  in  fifty-nine  seconds.  This  machine  was 
driven  by  a  sixteen-horse-power  motor. 

Santos  Dumont  was  one  of  the  early  pioneers  in  aeronautical 
experiments.  After  showing  a  marked  talent  with  balloons,  he 
turned  his  attention  to  heavier-than-air  machines,  and  in  1906 
created  a  world's  record  in  a  flight  of  230  yards  at  a  speed  of  twenty- 
five  miles  an  hour. 

In  1907  Henry  Farnum  made  a  half  circular  flight  in  a  Voisin 
biplane,  using  a  fifty-horse-power  motor,  returning  to  his  start- 
ing point.  About  this  time  a  flight  of  nine  minutes  and  fifteen 
seconds  was  recorded  by  Delagrande  on  a  Voisin  constructed  biplane. 

The  first  previously  announced  public  flight  was  made  on 
July  4,  1908,  by  Glenn  H.  Curtiss  at  Hammondsport,  N.  Y.,  and 
was  witnessed  by  a  number  of  New  Yorkers  who  had  gone  to 
Hammondsport  to  see  the  flight. 

In  the  winter  of  1913-14  Mr.  Rodman  Wanamaker  gave 
Glenn  H.  Curtiss  a  commission  to  build  a  flying  boat  which  would 
fly  across  the  Atlantic.  Commander  Porte  was  brought  from 
England,  and  he,  with  Mr.  Curtiss,  worked  out  the  designs  for  a 
flying  boat  much  larger  than  any  previously  built,  and  fitted  with 


616  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

/ 

two  motors  instead  of  one.  As  entirely  separate  power  plants 
would  be  used,  one  motor  would  naturally  run  somewhat  faster 
than  the  other,  and  it  was  freely  predicted  that  the  machine  could 
not  be  handled.  The  first  trial,  however,  proved  that  it  would 
not  only  fly,  but  that  after  it  was  once  in  the  air,  one  motor  could 
be  slowed  down  and  even  stopped  and  the  machine  continue  to  fly. 
This  machine  was  the  forerunner  of  the  seaplane,  used  by  the 
American,  British  and  other  navies  in  the  war,  although  somewhat 
changed  in  detail.  The  beginning  of  the  war  stopped  the  trans- 
atlantic experiments  and  this  machine  found  its  way  into  the 
British  navy.  It  was  christened  the  "America,"  and  the  larger 
flying  boats  or  seaplanes  which  are  now  being  built  and  used  by 
the  British  and  American  navies  are  still  known  as  the  "America" 
or  super-American  type. 

At  first  fighting  operations  were  carried  out  by  individual 
aviators  or  comparatively  small  squadrons,  but  the  battles  of 
March,  1918,  witnessed  the  definite  development  of  larger  squadrons, 
maneuvering  as  effectively  as  bodies  of  cavalry,  and  in  massed 
formation  attacking  infantry  columns.  The  possibilities  of  the 
new  aerial  arm  were  further  demonstrated  in  the  creation  of  a 
barrage,  as  effective  as  that  of  heavy  artillery,  for  the  purpose  of 
•holding  back  advancing  bodies  of  infantry. 

In  the  first  days  of  the  German  offensive  there  took  place  an 
serial  battle  which  up  to  that  tune  was  unique  in  the  annals  of 
warfare.  It  was  a  battle  not  merely  for  the  purpose  of  gaining 
the  mastery  of  the  air,  but  to  aid  Allied  infantry  and  artillery  in 
stemming  the  tide  of  the  German  advance,  and  when  the  drive 
finally  slowed  down  and  came  to  a  halt  in  Picardy,  the  Allied  airmen 
had  undoubtedly  contributed  largely  to  the  result. 

During  March  21  and  22,  1918 — the  opening  days  of  the 
great  German  drive — there  was  comparatively  little  aerial  activity. 
The  aviators  of  both  sides  were  preparing  for  the  impending  battle, 
which  actually  began  on  the  morning  of  March  23d  and  lasted  all 
that  day  and  the  day  following. 

The  story  of  the  air  battle  of  March  23d-24th  reads  like  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  adventure  tales  ever  imagined.  The 
struggle,  began  with  squadrons  of  airplanes  ascending  and  maneuver- 
ing as  perfectly  as  cavalry.  They  rose  to  dizzy  heights,  and, 
descending,  swept  the  air  close  to  the  ground.  The  individual 


BATTLES  IN  THE  AIR  617 

pilots  of  the  opposing  sides  then  began  executing  all  manner  of 
movements,  climbing,  diving,  turning  hi  every  direction,  and 
seeking  to  get  into  the  best  position  to  pour  machine-gun  fire  into 
enemy  airplanes.  Every  few  minutes  a  machine  belonging  to  an 
Allied  or  German  squadron  crashed  to  the  ground,  often  in  flames. 
At  the  end  of  the  first  day's  fighting  wrecked  airplanes  and  the 
mangled  bodies  of  aviators  lay  strewn  all  over  the  battle-field. 

All  next  day,  March  24th,  the  struggle  in  the  air  went  on  with 
unabated  fury.  The  Allied  air  squadrons  were  now  on  the  offensive 
and  penetrated  far  inside  the  German  lines.  The  German  aviators 
counter-attacked  whenever  they  could,  and  more  than  once  suc- 
ceeded in  crossing  the  French  lines.  But  at  the  close  of  the  second 
day  victory  rested  with  the  Allied  airmen,  and  during  the  next  five 
scarcely  a  German  airplane  took  the  air. 

The  sudden  termination  of  the  war  caused  speculation  through- 
out the  world  concerning  the  future  of  the  airplane.  When  rumor 
declared  that  America's  newly-won  pre-eminence  in  aviation  would 
disappear,  Captain  Roy  N.  Francis,  of  the  Division  of  Military 
Aeronautics,  made  this  statement. 

America  cannot  afford  to  junk  the  airplane  fleet  which  has  cost  her  so 
many  millions  of  dollars.  I  do  not  believe  that  any  other  nation  will 
do  so.  Even  if  the  peace  congress  should  decide  on  universal  disarmament, 
there  are  still  any  number  of  uses  to  which  airplanes  can  be  put  in  time 
of  peace. 

Take  the  air  mail  service,  for  instance.  This  is  now  only  in  its  infancy, 
but  it  is  destined  to  become  as  common  as  the  railway  mail  service.  It 
will  employ  hundreds  of  airplanes  and  aviators  all  over  the  country. 

Then  there  is  the  possibility  of  our  machines  being  used  for  sea- 
coast  patrol  work,  a  valuable  addition  to  our  coast-guard  forces  which  save 
many  ocean  vessels  from  disaster  every  year. 

They  will  be  largely  used  for  army  dispatch  work.  Instead  of  sending 
official  messages  from  post  to  post  by  the  present  methods,  airplanes 
will  be  used  after  the  war  as  they  are  now  being  used  at  the  front. 

On  the  Great  Lakes,  airplanes  can  be  used  for  coast-guard  work, 
as  on  the  seacoast,  and  they  can  also  be  used  for  patrolling  the  lakes 
themselves.  Think  how  many  wrecked  lake  vessels  might  have  been 
saved  in  the  past  had  there  been  an  airplane  nearby  to  carry  its  message 
of  distress  and  guide  rescue  ships  to  the  scene. 

Forest  patrol  is  still  another  opening  for  the  use  of  expert  aviators. 
Every  year,  almost,  our  great  forest  fires  in  the  northwest  demonstrate 
that  our  present  methods  of  prevention  of  forest  fires  are  faulty;  chiefly 
because  the  fires  are  not  discovered  while  they  are  still  smoldering.  Con- 


618  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

etant  airplane  patrol  over  our  great  forests  would  make  forest  fires  a  thing 
of  the  past. 

Then  there  are  any  number  of  commercial  uses  to  which  airplanes 
can  be  put.  Instead  of  a  cargo  of  bombs,  a  commercial  airplane  could 
carry  a  cargo  of  small  package  freight  for  which  immediate  delivery  is 
necessary. 

The  use  of  the  airplane  for  passenger  carrying  is  now  being  developed. 
The  huge  Caproni  and  Handley-Page  machines  will  be  used  for  this  pur- 
pose in  the  future.  Thousands  of  persons  will  want  to  fly  just  for  the 
novelty,  and  the  possibility  of  accidents  will  be  reduced  to  the  minimum. 

Again,  there  is  the  need  for  scientific  research  and  improvement  of 
the  airplane,  which  will  keep  scores  of  men  and  machines  busy  for  years. 

It  will  not  be  necessary,  of  course,  to  maintain  the  numerous  govern- 
ment training  fields  for  aviators  after  the  war,  but  some  of  the  best  of  them 
should  be  retained.  I  do  not  believe  it  will  be  necessary  to  discharge  a 
single  pilot  or  observer  from  the  army  or  to  junk  a  single  undamaged 
airplane  after  the  war. 

Henry  Woodhouse,  Governor  of  the  Aero  Club  of  America 
and  a  world-wide  authority  on  aeronautics,  made  the  following 
forecast: 

Aircraft  capable  of  lifting  fifteen  tons,  with  a  speed  of  one  hundred 
miles  an  hour,  are  now  in  actual  production.  The  first  of  the  American- 
built  Caproni  planes,  equipped  with  four  Liberty  motors  and  developing 
1,750  horse-power  has  just  been  successfully  tested.  This  giant  plane  has 
a  total  lifting  capacity  of  40,000  pounds,  or  twenty  tons.  The  super- 
Handley-Page  or  the  Caproni  could  easily  carry  fifty  bags,  or  more  than  a 
ton  of  mail.  This  means  100,000  letters.  Judging  the  future  development 
of  aircraft  by  what  has  taken  place  in  the  last  two  years,  we  may  look  for 
the  building  of  a  5,000-horse-power  airplane,  possibly  within  a  year. 

If  the  people  of  the  various  cities  along  the  eight  great  air-ways 
already  proposed  insist  on  it,  at  least  a  dozen  additional  aerial  mail  lines 
can  be  established  within  twelve  months.  This  can  be  done  by  utiliz- 
ing only  machines  not  needed  by  the  army  or  navy.  That  means  it  will 
be  possible  to  send  by  postplane  at  least  50,000,000  of  the  100,000,000 
day  and  night  letters,  and  at  least  25,000,000  of  the  50,000,000  special 
delivery  letters  that  are  sent  each  year  in  the  United  States. 

Postoffice  officials  estimate  that  the  average  cost  of  telegraphic  day 
and  night  letters  now  going  over  the  wires  is  close  to  one  dollar  each. 
Special  delivery  letters  average  about  thirteen  cents  apiece. 

This  makes  a  total  of  more  than  fifty  million  dollars'  worth  of  potential 
aerial  mail  business  that  is  simply  waiting  for  the  establishment  of  aerial 
mail  routes  which  can  easily  be  established  within  the  next  twelve  months. 

Four  hundred  miles  is  the  distance  over  which  postplane  day  mail 
is  most  effective.  Aerial  mail  letters  are  effective  over  any  distance, 
since,  with  proper  stations,  light  signals  and  guides  for  night  postplane 


Mechanics 
in  1918  that  raided  Germany. 


CARRYING  THE  WAR  INTO   GERMANY 
tuning  up"  one  of  the  giant  British  bombing  machines  developed 
The  size  is  shown  by  comparison  with  the  human 


figures.     Note  the  forward  gunner,  the  pilot,  the  rear  gunner  and  the  window  of 
the  commodious  cock-pit  within  which  the  airmen  could  stand  upright. 


BATTLES  IN  THE  AIR  621 

flying,  the  air  mail  can  be  carried  more  than  one  thousand  miles  between 
the  hours  of  6  p.  M.  and  8  A.  M. 

The  cost  of  aerial  mail  night  and  "day  letters  will  be  less  than  that  of 
wire  communication.  The  cost  of  an  aerial  mail  letter  is  sixteen  cents  for 
two  ounces.  For  this  price  there  can  be  sent  a  message  that  would  cost 
five  dollars  to  send  by  telegraph. 

The  estimate  of  $50,000,000  of  potential  postplane  business  takes 
no  account  of  the  possibilities  of  transporting  parcel  post  aerial  mail. 
One  of  the  Caproni  2,100-horse-power  machines  now  in  operation  could 
easily  transport  2,500  pounds  of  mail.  At  least  $25,000,000  worth  of 
parcel  post  could  be  sent  by  airplance. 

Enthusiasts  who  look  forward  to  the  transatlantic  transportation  of 
aerial  mail  as  certain  to  come  within  the  next  twelve-month  assert  that 
there  is  another  twenty-five  million  dollars'  worth  of  transatlantic  mail 
waiting  for  an  aerial  mail  service.  They  point  out  that  Uncle  Sam  now 
pays  eighty  cents  a  pound  to  American  steamships  to  carry  transatlantic 
mail  and  that  a  charge  of  one  dollar  per  letter  across  the  Atlantic  would  be  a 
paying  proposition. 

Charges  of  mismanagement  and  graft  were  investigated  by  the 
United  States  Senate  and  by  the  Department  of  Justice.  Former 
Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  Charles  E.  Hughes 
was  named  by  President  Wilson  to  conduct  the  latter  inquiry. 
Waste  was  found,  due  largely  to  the  emergency  nature  of  the 
contract.  Justice  Hughes  recommended  that  Col.  Edward  Deeds, 
of  the  United  States  Signal  Corps,  be  tried  by  court  martial  for 
his  connection  with  certain  contracts,  and  recommended  that  sev- 
eral other  persons  be  tried  in  the  United  States  courts.  Justice 
Hughes  and  the  Senate  Investigation  Committee  gave  their  un- 
qualified approval  to  the  management  of  America's  aircraft  pro- 
duction by  John  D.  Ryan.  Mr.  Ryan  resigned  his  charge  as 
head  of  the  Aircraft  Production  Board  hi  November,  1918.  His 
last  public  announcement  was  of  the  invention  of  an  aerial  tele- 
phone, by  which  the  commander  of  a  squadron  standing  on  the 
ground  could  communicate  with  aviators  flying  hi  battle  formation. 


CHAPTER  XLIX 

HEALTH  AND  HAPPINESS  OP  THE  AMERICAN  FORCES 

SINCE  the  fateful  day  when  Cain  slew  Abel,  thereby  setting 
a  precedent  for  human  warfare,  no  fighter  has  been  so  well 
protected  from  disease  and  discomfort  of  mind  and  body, 
so  speedily  cured  of  his  wounds,  as  the  American  soldier 
and  sailor  during  the  World  War. 

The  basis  of  this  remarkable  achievement  was  sanitary  edu- 
cation preached  first  by  competent  physicians  and  sociologists; 
then  by  newspapers  to  the  civilian  population;  and  ultimately  by 
the  soldiers  and  sailors  themselves,  each  man  acting  as  an  evangel 
of  personal  and  community  health  and  sanitation.  In  1914,  before 
war  was  declared,  the  words  "venereal  diseases"  were  relegated  to 
the  advertisements  of  quacks  and  patent  medicines.  When  the 
war  ended,  virtually  every  young  and  old  man  and  woman  knew 
the  meaning  of  the  words  and  the  miseries  that  come  hi  their 
train.  So  it  was  with  other  details  of  the  care  of  the  human  body, 
with  sewage  problems,  with  the  grave  community  question  of 
pure  water,  with  the  use  of  intoxicating  beverages,  and  with  other 
problems  inter-woven  with  the  health  and  happiness  of  humanity. 

Among  the  leaders  in  this  wide-flung  campaign  of  education 
was  the  American  Red  Cross.  Starting  with  a  mere  nominal 
membership  before  the  war,  its  roster  rose  to  the  mighty  total  of 
more  than  28,000,000  American  men,  women  and  children  when 
the  war  ended.  More  than  $300,000,000  was  poured  into  the 
American  Red  Cross  treasury.  In  addition  to  these  contributions 
of  money,  came  the  free  services  of  millions  of  Americans,  mostly 
women.  Red  Cross  workshops  dotted  the  land,  and  from  these 
came  bandages,  sweaters,  comfort-kits,  trench  necessities,  clothing 
for  homeless  refugees,  and  a  vast  quantity  of  material  aid  hi  every 
conceivable  form.  American  Red  Cross  workers  during  the  war 
knitted  14,089,000  garments  for  the  army  and  navy.  In  addition, 
the  workers  turned  out  253,196,000  surgical  dressings,  22,255,000 
hospital  garments  and  1,464,000  refugee  garments.  Sewing  chap- 

622 


HEALTH  AND  HAPPINESS  OF  THE  FORCES     623 

ters  repaired  old  clothing  and  sent  it  overseas  to  the  orphaned 
and  the  widowed,  and  millions  of  Americans  learned  the  sublime 
lesson  of  sacrifice  through  the  Red  Cross — a  lesson  that  left  its 
imprint  upon  America  for  generations. 

The  work  of  the  American  Red  Cross  extended  through  many 
lands.  It  followed  the  flags  of  the  Entente  Allies  into  Palestine, 
Mesopotamia,  India,  South  Africa,  and  other  battle-grounds. 
Its  work  on  the  western  front  was  a  miracle  of  achievement.  In 
Russia  through  the  Red  Terror  of  the  Revolution  the  workers  of 
the  American  Red  Cross  went  serenely  about  their  tasks  of  mercy, 
relieving  the  hungry,  aiding  the  sick,  and  clothing  the  ragged 
peasants. 

Henry  P.  Davidson  left  the  firm  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Company 
to  devote  his  administrative  genius  to  the  affairs  of  the  American 
Red  Cross.  Other  men  and  women  of  rare  executive  ability  joined 
hi  the  free  tender  of  their  services  to  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross. 

While  the  organization  strove  mightily  against  famines, 
wounds  and  disease  overseas,  it  was  suddenly  confronted  during 
the  period  from  September  8th  to  November  9th,  1918,  with  the 
severest  epidemic  America  had  experienced  in  generations.  Return- 
ing American  troops  brought  the  germs  of  the  malady  known  as 
"Spanish  influenza"  into  New  York  and  Boston.  Thence  it 
spread  throughout  the  country.  During  its  brief  career  the  epi- 
demic claimed  a  total  of  82,306  deaths  in  forty-six  American  cities, 
having  a  combined  population  of  23,000,000.  Philadelphia,  a  great 
center  of  war  industry,  with  the  Philadelphia  Navy  Yard  harboring 
thousands  of  sailors  and  marines,  showed  the  highest  mortality  in 
proportion  to  population,  7.4  per  1,000;  Baltimore  with  6.7  per  1,000 
showed  the  next  greatest  mortality. 

The  record  of  the  Red  Cross  in  this  epidemic  was  one  of 
instant  service.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  masks  were  made  in 
Red  Cross  workrooms,  and  these  were  worn  by  nurses  and  by 
members  of  families  in  afflicted  homes. 

On  May  1,  1917,  just  before  the  appointment  of  the  War 
Council,  the  American  Red  Cross  had  486,194  members  working 
through  562  chapters.  On  July  31,  1918,  the  organization  num- 
bered 20,648,103  annual  members,  besides  8,000,000  members  of 
the  Junior  Red  Cross — a  total  enrolment  of  over  one-fourth  the 
population  of  the  United  States.  These  members  carried  on  their 


624  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Red  Cross  work  through  3,854  chapters,  which  again  divided 
themselves  into  some  30,000  branches  and  auxiliaries. 

The  total  actual  collections  from  the  first  war  fund  amounted 
to  more  than  $115,000,000.  The  subscriptions  to  the  second  war 
fund  amounted  to  upward  of  $176,000,000.  From  membership 
dues  the  collections  approximated  $24,500,000. 

The  Home  Service  of  the  Red  Cross  with  its  more  than  40,000 
workers,  extended  its  ministrations  of  sympathy  and  counsel 
each  month  to  upward  of  100,000  families  left  behind  by  soldiers 
at  the  front. 

Supplementing,  but  not  duplicating,  the  work  of  the  American 
Red  Cross,  were  the  services  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
Knights  of  Columbus,  Jewish  Welfare  Association,  Salvation  Army, 
American  Library  Association  and  other  bodies. 

These  operated  under  the  general  supervision  of  the  War  and 
Navy  departments:  Commissions  on  Training  Camp  Activities. 
Raymond  B.  Fosdick  was  the  chairman  of  both  these  bodies. 
Concerning  these  commissions,  President  Wilson  declared : 

I  do  not  believe  it  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  no  army  ever  before 
assembled  has  had  more  conscientious  and  painstaking  thought  given  to 
the  protection  and  stimulation  of  its  mental,  moral  and  physical  man- 
hood. Every  endeavor  has  been  made  to  surround  the  men,  both  here 
and  abroad,  with  the  kind  of  environment  which  a  democracy  owes  to 
those  who  fight  in  its  behalf.  In  this  work  the  Commissions  on  Training 
Camp  Activities  have  represented  the  government  and  the  government's 
solicitude  that  the  moral  and  spiritual  resources  of  the  nation  should  be 
mobilized  behind  the  troops.  The  country  is  to  be  congratulated  upon 
the  fine  spirit  with  which  organizations  and  groups  of  many  kinds,  some 
of  them  of  national  standing,  have  harnessed  themselves  together  under 
the  leadership  of  the  government's  agency  in  a  common  ministry  to  the 
men  of  the  army  and  navy. 

Afloat  and  ashore  the  organizations  operating  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  two  commissions  gave  to  the  men  of  the  American 
forces  home  care,  suitable  recreation,  and  constant  protection. 
The  club  life  of  the  army  and  navy,  both  in  the  training  camps  and 
after  the  men  went  into  the  service,  was  most  capably  directed 
by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Knights  of  Columbus,  and  the  Jewish  Welfare 
Association.  Non-sectarianism  was  the  rule  in  all  of  the  huts  and 
clubs  conducted  by  these  organizations.  Catholic,  Protestant  and 
Jewish  chaplains  mingled  with  workers  of  the  Salvation  Army, 


HEALTH  AND  HAPPINESS  OF  THE  FORCES     625 

with  professional  prize-fighters  who  became  athletic  instructors, 
with  actors  and  actresses  who  contributed  their  talents  freely  to 
the  entertainment  of  soldiers  and  sailors.  Moving-picture  shows, 
boxing  contests,  continuation  schools,  canteens  where  women 
workers  served  American-made  dishes — these  were  some  some  of  the 
activities  following  the  men.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Knights  of 
Columbus  bore  the  largest  share  of  this  work.  More  than  $300,- 
000,000  was  contributed  by  the  people  of  America  to  the  main- 
tenance of  these  activities. 

The  other  organizations  rounded  out  the  work  of  the  first 
two  organizations  and  filled  in  with  special  attention  to  needs  on 
which  the  others  did  not  specialize. 

The  larger  organization,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  was  chosen  by  the 
government  to  carry  out  a  portion  of  the  government  program — 
the  conducting  of  the  canteens. 

The  Knights  of  Columbus  specialized  in  comforts  less  considered 
by  other  war  relief  organizations. 

Nothing  gave  greater  relaxation  to  the  fighting  man,  coming 
from  the  trenches,  or  the  battle  line  caked  with  mud  and  blood 
and  weary  with  long  hours,  than  a  shower  bath,  and  generous 
facilities  were  provided  close  to  the  fighting  front. 

Back  of  the  lines  hi  the  rest  billets  and  concentration  camps, 
provisions  were  less  generous  than  at  the  front  until  the  Knights 
of  Columbus  took  up  the  task  of  seeing  that  the  men  who  were 
temporarily  away  from  the  active  fighting  had  these  facilities  for 
bathing.  It  was  but  one  of  the  many  activities  of  the  Knights  of 
Columbus,  but  one  of  the  most  appreciated. 

One  of  the  first  requisitions  made  by  Rev.  John  B.  De  Valles, 
one  of  the  first  chaplains  sent  over  by  the  Knights  of  Columbus, 
was  for  a  shower  bath  and  he  set  it  up  in  connection  with  his  head- 
quarters hi  a  little  French  town  and  it  was  overworked  from  the 
first.  From  this  spread  the  movement  for  establishing  shower 
baths  hi  club  houses  being  opened  behind  the  lines  and  in  villages. 

There  was  no  preaching  in  a  Knights  of  Columbus  hall  or  club 
room,  but  there  was  clean  moral  environment  and  healthy  recreation 
and  amusement,  for  this  was  proven  the  thing  to  keep  up  the  morale 
of  fighting  men. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  built  1,500  huts  in  Europe  costing  from  $2,000 
to  $20,000  each,  equipped  with  canteen,  reading  and  writing  and 


626  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

recreational  facilities  to  soldiers.  It  operated  twenty-eight  different 
leave  areas  with  hotels  that  had  a  total  of  35,000  beds.  In  addition, 
in  Paris,  port  towns,  and  several  big  centers  in  the  war  zone  there 
were  "Y"  hotels  for  transient  soldiers  where  one  could  get  a  clean 
bed  and  a  good  meal  at  about  half  the  price  charged  by  French 
hotels.  Over  3,000  movie  and  theatrical  shows  a  week  were  pro- 
vided free,  and  300  "Y"  athletic  directors  had  charge  of  the  sports 
in  the  American  army,  operating  836  athletic  fields.  Enormous 
quantities  of  cookies  and  chocolate  and  cigarettes  were  supplied. 

A  hundred  of  the  best  known  educators  from  America  directed 
educational  work.  The  staff  consisted  of  Professor  Erskine  of 
Columbia  University,  Professor  Daly  of  Harvard,  Professor  Cole- 
man  of  Chicago  University,  Professor  Appleton  of  the  University 
of  Kansas  and  Frank  Spaulding,  superintendent  of  the  Cleveland 
public  schools. 

Seconding  the  work  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  its  sister  organization, 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  extended  its  activities  from  the  training  camps  of 
America  to  the  battle-fields  of  Europe. 

At  the  close  of  its  first  year  of  America's  participation  in  the 
war,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  had  six  established  lines  of  work  in  France: 
Hostess  Houses,  clubs  for  French  working  women  and  business 
girls,  clubs  for  nurses  with  the  American  army,  clubs  for  women  of 
the  signal  corps,  clubs  for  British  women  (Waac's)  working  with 
the  American  army,  and  recreation  work  for  all  women  employed 
in  any  way  by  the  American  Expeditionary  Force.  In  one  year 
its  activities  spread  to  twenty-five  cities,  and  it  had  forty-three 
units. 

The  Hostess  Houses  were  at  Paris  and  Tours.  The  Hotel 
Petrograd,  on  the  Rue  Caumartin,  was  leased  in  Paris  and  turned 
out  to  be  one  of  the  most  interesting  centers  of  American  life  in 
France.  It  was  run  on  the  most  liberal  lines,  in  a  thoroughly 
democratic  way.  The  meals  were  good  and  hi  the  big  dining-room 
men  were  admitted  on  the  same  footing  as  women.  There  were 
two  of  these  Hostess  Houses  at  Tours. 

For  the  girls  of  the  signal  corps  twenty-two  homes  were  opened 
and  there  were  huts  for  the  Waacs  at  Bourges  and  Tours.  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  secretaries  were  attached  to  twenty  base  hospital  units  and 
opened  fourteen  clubs  for  nurses. 

The  most  interesting  and  unique  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  was 


HEALTH  AND  HAPPINESS  OF  THE  FORCES  627 

that  of  its  foyers  for  French  working  women  and  business  girls. 
There  were  thirteen  of  these  in  Lyons,  Rouen,  Bourges,  Tours, 
Ste.  Etienne,  Paris  and  Mont  Lucon. 

The  Salvation  Army  erected  hotels  at  the  various  large  train- 
ing camps  in  America,  and  its  workers  made  American  doughnuts 
for  the  soldiers  close  to  the  battle-lines  in  France.  The  work  done 
by  the  men  and  women  of  the  Salvation  Army  aided  materially 
in  bringing  the  heart  of  America  into  France. 

The  Jewish  Welfare  Association  not  only  performed  notable 
service  in  following  the  men  from  training  camps  into  actual  ser- 
vice, but  it  also  planned  and  executed  a  great  reconstruction  pro- 
gram under  the  direction  of  Felix  M.  Warburg,  chairman  of  the 
Joint  Distribution  Committee. 

The  American  Library  Association  solved  the  grave  problem 
of  providing  the  soldiers  and  sailors  with  suitable  reading  matter. 
Each  of  the  cantonments  had  its  special  library  building  in  charge 
of  a  trained  librarian,  and  interesting  literature  followed  the  men 
into  the  field  through  the  services  of  this  organization. 

Some  idea  of  the  work  of  these  various  organizations  is  gamed 
by  reading  the  following  order  received  by  Raymond  B.  Fosdick 
at  his  headquarters  in  Washington  after  the  steamship  Kansas 
carrying  supplies  for  the  various  huts  at  American  field  quarters, 
was  sunk: 

Send  20  tons  plain  soap,  20  tons  condensed  milk,  10  tons  chocolate, 
5  tons  cocoa,  2  tons  tea,  5  tons  coffee,  5  tons  vanilla  wafers,  50  tons  sugar, 
20  tons  flour,  2  tons  fruit  essences,  2  tons  lemonade  powder,  120,000  Testa- 
ments, 120,000  hymn-books,  tons  of  magazines  and  other  literature,  30 
tons  writing-paper  and  envelopes,  50,000  folding  chairs,  500  camp  cots, 
2,000  blankets,  20  typewriters,  60  tents,  75  moving-picture  machines, 
200  phonographs,  5,000  records,  1  ton  ink  blotters,  $75,000  worth  athletic 
goods,  30  automobiles  and  trucks. 

The  order  was  filled  at  once. 

Besides  the  associations  above  enumerated,  other  volunteer 
organizations  contributed  to  the  health  and  happiness  of  American 
soldiers  and  sailors.  The  Emergency  Aid  of  Pennsylvania  estab- 
lished two  clubs,  one  in  Paris,  the  other  in  Tours,  both  of  which 
performed  notable  services  in  feeding  and  restoring  the  spirits  of 
American  soldiers  and  sailors.  The  club  in  Paris  was  under  the 
direction  of  the  Rev.  Frederick  W.  Beekman,  and  that  at  Tours 


628  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

was  directed  by  Amos  Tuck  French.  Mrs.  Barclay  Warburton 
of  Philadelphia  was  designated  by  Governor  Brumbaugh  as  Com- 
missioner-General of  Overseas  Work  for  the  Emergency  Aid. 
Other  states  had  similar  organizations  looking  after  the  comfort 
of  the  menv 

But  it  was  upon  tne  professional  doctors,  nurses  and  sani- 
tarians that  the  bulk  of  the  task  devolved.  This  task  included  the 
prevention  as  well  as  the  cure  of  maladies  menacing  the  American 
forces.  It  reached  out  into  years  after  the  war  into  the  problems 
of  re-education  and  re-habilitation  of  the  shell-shocked  and  the 
wounded.  Major-General  William  C.  Gorgas,  former  Surgeon 
General  of  the  Army,  stated  this  concept  when  he  said: 

"The  whole  conception  of  governmental  and  national  respon- 
sibility for  caring  for  the  wounded  has  undergone  radical  change  dur- 
ing the  months  of  study  given  the  subject  by  experts  serving  with 
the  Medical  Officers'  Reserve  Corps  and  others  consulting  with 
them.  Instead  of  the  old  idea  that  responsibility  ended  with  the 
return  of  the  soldier  to  private  life  with  his  wounds  healed  and 
such  pension  as  he  might  be  given,  it  is  now  considered  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  government  to  equip  and  re-educate  the  wounded 
man,  after  healing  his  wounds,  and  to  return  him  to  civil  life  ready 
to  be  as  useful  to  himself  and  his  country  as  possible." 

To  carry  out  this  idea  reconstruction  hospitals  were  estab- 
lished in  large  centers  of  population.  Boston,  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore,  Washington,  Buffalo,  Cincinnati,  Chicago, 
St.  Paul,  Seattle,  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Denver,  Kansas 
City,  St.  Louis,  Memphis,  Richmond,  Atlanta  and  New  Orleans 
were  sites  of  these  institutions.  Each  was  planned  as  a  500-bed 
hospital  but  with  provision  for  enlargement  to  1,000  beds  if  needed. 

These  hospitals  were  not  the  last  step  in  the  return  of  the 
wounded  soldiers  to  civil  life.  When  the  soldiers  were  able  to 
take  up  industrial  training,  further  provision  was  ready. 

Arrangements  were  made  by  the  Department  of  Military 
Orthopedics  to  care  for  soldiers,  so  far  as  orthopedics  (the  pre- 
vention of  deformity)  was  concerned,  continuously  until  they 
were  returned  to  civil  life.  Orthopedic  surgeons  were  attached 
to  the  medical  force  near  the  firing  line  and  to  the  different 
hospitals  back  to  the  base  orthopedic  hospital  which  was  established 
within  one  hundred  miles  of  the  firing  line.  In  this  hospital,  in  addi- 


HEALTH  AND  HAPPINESS  OF  THE  FORCES    629 

tion  to  orthopedic  surgical  care,  there  was  equipment  for  surgical 
reconstruction  work  and  " curative  workshops"  in  which  men  ac- 
quired ability  to  use  injured  members  while  doing  work  interesting 
and  useful  in  itself.  This  method  supplanted  the  old  and  tiresome 
one  of  prescribing  a  set  of  motions  for  a  man  to  go  through  with  no 
other  purpose  than  to  re-acquire  use  of  his  injured  part. 

Instructors  and  examiners  for  all  the  troops  were  furnished 
by  the  Department  of  Military  Orthopedic  Surgery.  A  number 
of  older  and  more  experienced  surgeons  acted  as  instructors  and 
supervisors  for  each  of  the  groups  into  which  the  army  was 
divided. 

A  peculiar  condition  arising  from  the  use  of  heavy  artillery 
in  the  war  was  that  called  "  shell-shock." 

The  most  pathetic  wrecks  of  war  were  soldiers  suffering  from 
shattered  nerves.  Paris  had  many  of  them.  They  appeared  to 
be  normal.  But  they  were  human  wrecks. 

Shell-shock  or  the  aftermath  of  illness  from  wounds  left  them 
in  weakened  health,  subject  to  violent  heart  attacks.  Most  of 
them  lacked  energy  and  perseverance.  They  became  awkward, 
like  big  children.  If  employment  was  found  for  them — for  many 
had  large  families  to  support — they  quickly  lost  their  jobs  through 
apathy  or  collapse. 

A  society  hi  Paris  did  everything  possible  to  relieve  the  suf- 
ferings of  these  victims  of  the  war.  It  operated  with  the  authoriza- 
tion of  the  French  Government  under  the  name  "L' Assistance  aux 
Blesses  Nerveux  de  la  Guerre." 

American  hospitals  after  the  war  contained  many  of  these 
cases.  Some  of  the  victims  became  incurably  insane. 

Besides  the  noble  work  done  by  the  great  army  of  American 
physicians,  surgeons  and  nurses,  in  caring  for  soldiers  and  sailors, 
a  service  of  scarcely  less  magnitude  was  rendered  to  the  civilian 
populations  of  France,  Belgium  and  Italy.  Tuberculosis  in 
France  was  a  real  plague,  taking  a  toll  of  80,000  lives  every  year. 
American  physicians  and  nurses  preached  the  doctrine  of  fresh 
air,  care  of  the  teeth  and  proper  food  for  children.  Almost  imme- 
diately this  campaign  of  sanitation  had  its  effect  in  a  decreasing 
death-rate  from  tuberculosis. 

European  nations  generally  were  benefited  by  the  stay  of  the 
American  army  overseas.  The  straightforward  manner  in  which 
the  social  evil  was  attacked  had  direct  benefits.  The  important 


630  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

detail  of  dental  care  also  received  an  interest  through  the  advent 
of  the  American  soldier.  The  London  Daily  Mail  made  this 
comment  on  that  question: 

"One  thing  about  the  American  soldiers  and  sailors  must 
strike  English  people  when  they  see  these  gallant  fighters,  and  that 
is  the  soundness  and  general  whiteness  of  their  teeth.  From  child- 
hood the  'Yank'  is  taught  to  take  cafe  of  his  teeth.  He  has 
'tooth  drill'  thrice  daily  and  visits  his  dentist  at  fixed  periods, 
say,  every  three  or  four  months.  If  by  chance  a  tooth  does  decay, 
the  rot  is  at  once  arrested  by  gold  or  platinum  filling.  American 
dentists  never  extract  a  tooth.  No  matter  how  badly  decayed  it 
may  be,  they  save  the  molar  by  crowning  it  with  gold. 

"The  United  States  soldiers  have  set  us  a  splendid  example 
hi  this  matter.  They  fairly  shame  the  ordinary  ' Tommy'  by 
the  brilliance  of  then1  molars,  but  they  will  do  so  no  longer  if  young 
English  mothers  will  only  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  bad  teeth  cause 
bad  health,  and  that  doctors'  and  dentists'  bills  will  be  saved  by 
the  regular  use  of  the  tooth-brush." 


CHAPTER  L 
THE  PIRATES  OP  THE  UNDER-SEAS 

GERMANY  relied  upon  the  submarine  to  win  the  war. 
This  in  a  nut-shell  explains  the  main  reason  why  the 
United  States  was  drawn  into  the  World  War.  Von 
Tirpitz,  the  German  Admiral,  obsessed  with  the  theory 
that  no  effective  answer  could  be  made  to  the  submarine,  con- 
vinced the  German  High  Command  and  the  Kaiser  that  only 
through  unrestricted  submarine  warfare  could  England  be  starved 
and  the  war  brought  to  an  end  with  victory  for  Germany.  Since 
August,  1914,  the  theory  held  by  von  Tirpitz  and  his  party  of 
extremists  had  been  combated  by  Prince  Maximilian  of  Baden 
and  by  Chancellor  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  and  by  others  high  in 
the  council  of  the  Kaiser.  These  men  pointed  out  that,  leaving 
out  such  questions  as  piracy  on  the  high  seas,  the  drowning  of 
women  and  children,  the  destruction  of  the  property  of  neutrals, 
there  still  remained  the  question  of  expediency.  America,  they 
asserted,  was  certain  to  enter  the  war  if  unrestricted  submarine 
warfare  was  decreed.  These  men  were  denounced  as  cowards 
and  von  Tirpitz  finally  triumphed. 

The  submarine  employed  by  the  Germans  was  of  the  type 
designed  by  Simon  Lake,  an  American.  The  Germans  bought 
two  submarines  built  by  Mr.  Lake  at  Kronstadt  for  the  Russians 
during  the  Russian-Japanese  war.  Various  improvements  upon 
the  Diesel  engine  and  special  training  for  submarine  crews  enabled 
the  German  navy  to  strike  terrible  blows  during  the  early  part  of 
the  war. 

Little  by  little,  however,  the  Allies  discovered  the  answer 
to  the  submarine  menace.  One  of  these  was  the  convoy:  fleets  of 
merchant  vessels  surrounded  by  fast  destroyers  made  life  a  misery 
for  the  submarine  crews.  In  the  early  days  vessels  of  all  char- 
acter fled  from  the  approach  of  the  submarine.  The  destroyers 
of  the  convoys,  however,  adopted  a  different  method.  They 
rushed  at  the  periscopes  in  efforts  to  ram  the  submarine,  and  as 

631 


632  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

they  raced  over  the  spot  where  the  submarine  had  been  at  the 
rate  of  twenty-two  knots  or  more  an  hour,  they  dropped  huge 
containers,  dubbed  "ash  cans",  containing  depth  charges  of  trini- 
trotoluol. 

Sea  planes  carrying  bombs,  small  dirigible  balloons  known 
as  "blimps,"  observation  balloons  moored  on  the  decks  of  warships, 
steel  nets,  and  especially  devised  anti-submarine  mines,  were  also 
factors  in  the  general  work  of  submarine  destruction. 

In  addition  to  all  these,  every  ship,  both  cargo  carrier  and 
war  vessel,  had  its  well-trained  gun  crew,  and  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  keen-eyed  mariners  daily  and  nightly  swept  the  seas  with 
binoculars  watching  for  anything  that  resembled  a  periscope. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  combination  of  destructive  agencies 
the  British  Admiralty  was  enabled  to  announce  at  the  close  of  the 
war  that  more  than  150  German  submarines  had  been  destroyed. 

The  names  of  the  commanding  officers  of  the  German  sub- 
marines which  had  been  disposed  of  were  given  out  by  the  govern- 
ment in  order  to  substantiate  to  the  world  the  statement  made 
by  the  Prime  Minister  hi  the  House  of  Commons  on  August  7th, 
and  denied  in  the  German  papers,  that  "at  least  150  of  these  ocean 
pests  had  been  destroyed."  The  statement  included  no  officers 
commanding  the  Austrian  submarines,  of  which  a  number  had 
been  destroyed,  and  did  not  exhaust  the  list  of  German  submarines 
put  out  of  action. 

The  fate  of  the  officers  was  given,  and  of  these  the  majority 
(116)  were  dead;  twenty-seven  were  prisoners  of  war,  six  were 
interned  in  neutral  countries  where  they  took  refuge,  and  one 
succeeded  in  returning  to  Germany. 

Further  light  on  the  subject  of  German  submarines  was  given 
on  September  18, 1918,  by  Senator  William  H.  Thompson  of  Kansas 
in  a  speech  hi  which  he  told  the  Senate : 

The  submarine  is  no  longer  a  serious  menace  to  transportation  across 
the  seas.  It  is,  of  course,  an  annoyance  and  a  great  hindrance,  and  as 
long  as  there  is  a  single  submarine  in  the  waters  of  the  sea  every  effort 
must  be  made  by  the  allied  powers  to  destroy  it,  for  it  is  an  outlaw  and 
must  not  exist.  The  truth  is  that  Germany  never  had  more  than  320  sub- 
marines all  told,  including  all  construction  before  and  since  the  war. 

We  have  positive  knowledge  of  the  destruction  of  more  than  one-half 
of  these  submarines,  and  we  also  know  that  it  is  practically  impossible 
for  Germany  to  keep  in  operation  more  than  10  per  cent  of  those  remain- 


THE  PIRATES   OF  THE   UNDER-SEAS        633 

ing.  It  is  therefore  reduced  to  a  negligible  quantity  so  far  as  its  ultimate 
effect,  upon  the  result  of  the  war  is  concerned. 

I  saw  a  reliable  statement  in  France  to  the  effect  that  there  is  one  ship 
of  some  character  leaving  the  eastern  shores  of  America  for  the  war  zone 
every  six  minutes,  and  it  is  only  a  few  vessels  which  are  ever  torpedoed, 
estimated  at  about  one  per  cent.  This  is  less  than  the  loss  by  storm  and 
accident  in  the  earlier  days  of  transportation  and  is  not  much  greater 
than  such  loss  now.  We  must  bear  in  mind  that  we  read  only  of  the  ships 
which  have  been  torpedoed  and  see  but  little  account  of  the  hundreds  of 
ships  which  pass  over  the  ocean  safely  and  undisturbed.  Three  hundred 
thousand  soldiers  are  conveyed  across  the  Atlantic  every  thirty  days, 
and  an  average  of  about  500,000  tons  of  freight  carried  to  the  French 
coast.  There  are  warehouses  in  only  one  of  the  many  ports  of  France 
with  a  capacity  of  over  2,000,000  tons. 

It  is  to  the  navy  that  the  credit  for  the  destruction  of  this  outlaw 
seagoing  craft  is  due.  The  navy  is  and  has  been  the  backbone  of  this  war, 
the  same  as  it  has  been  of  almost  every  great  war  in  history.  Without 
the  allied  navy  the  submarine  would  have  perhaps  accomplished  its  nefar- 
ious purpose  in  starving  the  European  allies  and  in  preventing  them  from 
securing  the  necessary  munitions  of  war  to  defend  themselves.  It  has 
utterly  failed  in  this  respect.  The  Allies  are  amply  supplied  with  food, 
and  there  are  provisions  enough  on  hand  now,  if  every  ship  should  be 
sunk,  to  last  the  Allies  and  armies  for  months.  The  destroyer  is  the 
ship  which  has  brought  Germany  to  her  knees  in  submarine  warfare  and 
will  keep  her  there.  We  have  not  enough  destroyers,  and  it  is  for  this 
reason  we  are  obliged  in  this  great  transportation  problem  to  run  risks 
which  would  not  be  taken  under  ordinary  conditions.  If  every  ship 
was  escorted  by  a  sufficient  number  of  destroyers  I  doubt  if  there  would 
be  a  single  ship  of  any  consequence  sunk,  except  by  the  merest  accident. 

Upon  the  same  subject,  Sir  Eric  Geddes,  First  Lord  of  the 
British  Admiralty,  on  October  14th,  reviewing  the  British  effort 
in  the  war  said  that  during  1918  the  casualties  of  the  British  on 
the  western  front  equaled  those  of  all  the  Allies  combined.  The 
British  navy,  he  said,  since  the  beginning  of  the  war  had  lost  in 
fighting  ships  of  all  classes  a  total  of  230,  more  than  twice  the  losses 
in  war  vessels  of  all  the  Allies. 

In  addition  to  these,  Great  Britain  had  lost  450  auxiliary  craft, 
such  as  mine-sweepers  and  trawlers,  making  a  total  of  680.  He 
revealed  the  fact  that  the  effective  warship  barrage,  which  had 
been  drawn  between  the  Orkneys  and  Norway  against  German 
submarines  and  surface  craft,  was,  during  the  later  months  of  the 
war,  maintained  largely  by  ships  of  the  United  States. 

The  British  merchant  ships  lost  since  1914  exceeded  2,400, 


634  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

representing  a  gross  tonnage  of  7,750,000,  nearly  three  times  the 
aggregate  loss  of  all  other  allied  and  neutral  countries. 
In  his  statement  on  the  submarine  situation  he  said : 

In  February,  1917,  the  ruthless  submarine  warfare  confronted  us, 
whilst  the  armies  in  France  at  that  tune  were  feeling  a  sense  of  superiority 
over  the  enemy  which  was  illustrated  by  the  successes  of  the  battle  of 
Arras,  the  taking  of  Vimy  Ridge,  the  advance  between  the  Ancre  and  the 
Somme,  the  offensive  in  Champagne,  Chemin  des  Dames,  Messines  and 
Passchendaele  Ridges.  Thus  we  felt,  and  rightly  felt,  that  the  weakest 
front  at  that  time  was  the  sea — not  on  the  surface,  but  under  water. 

The  whole  of  the  available  energies  of  the  Allies  were  consequently 
thrown  into  overcoming  the  submarine  and  the  menace  which  threatened 
to  destroy  the  lines  of  communication  of  the  Alliance.  The  reduced 
sinkings  which  have  been  published  since  that  period  show  how  we  grad- 
ually overcame  that  menace — and  today  most  men  say  that  the  sub- 
marine menace  is  a  thing  of  the  past. 

That  it  is  a  thing  of  the  past  in  so  far  as  it  can  never  win  the  war  for 
the  enemy  or  enable  the  enemy  to  prevent  us  from  winning  the  war, 
provided  we  do  not  underrate  the  danger  but  take  adequate  steps  against 
it,  I  affirm  now  as  the  opinion  of  the  British  Admiralty;  but  it  is  a  menace 
that  comes  and  goes. 

The  end  of  the  great  submarine  menace  came  on  November 
20th,  when  twenty  German  submarines  were  officially  surrendered 
to  Rear-Admiral  Tyrwhitt  of  the  British  Navy,  thirty  miles  off 
Harwich,  Englandk  Within  the  following  week  more  than  eighty 
other  German  submarines  and  a  number  of  Austrian  craft  were 
also  surrendered  to  the  British.  The  spectacle  of  the  surrender 
was  most  impressive. 

After  steaming  some  twenty  miles  across  the  North  Sea,  the 
Harwich  forces,  which  consisted  of  five  light  cruisers  and  twenty 
destroyers,  were  sighted.  The  flagship  of  Admiral  Tyrwhitt,  the 
commander,  was  the  Curacao.  High  above  about  the  squadron 
hung  a  big  observation  balloon. 

The  squadron,  headed  by  the  flagship,  then  steamed  toward 
the  Dutch  coast,  followed  by  the  Coventry,  Dragoon,  Danal  and 
Centaur.  Other  ships  followed  in  line  with  their  navigation  lights 
showing.  The  picture  was  a  noble  one  as  the  great  vessels,  with 
the  moon  still  shining,  plowed  their  way  to  take  part  in  the  sur- 
render of  the  German  U-boats. 

Soon  after  the  British  squadron  started  the  "paravanes" 
were  dropped  overboard.  These  devices  are  shaped  like  tops  and 


THE  PIRATES  OF  THE  UNDER-SEAS        63d 

divert  any  mines  which  may  be  encountered,  for  the  vessels  were 
now  entering  a  mine  field. 

Almost  everyone  on  board  donned  a  life  belt  and  just  as  the 
red  sun  appeared  above  the  horizon  the  first  German  submarine 
appeared  in  sight. 

Soon  after  seven  o'clock  twenty  submarines  were  seen  in  line, 
accompanied  by  two  German  destroyers,  the  Tibania  and  the 
Sierra  Ventana,  which  were  to  take  the  submarine  crews  back  to 
Germany  after  the  transfer. 

All  the  submarines  were  on  the  surface  with  their  hatches  open 
and  their  crews  standing  on  deck.  The  vessels  were  flying  no 
flags  whatever  and  their  guns  were  trained  fore  and  aft,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  terms  of  surrender. 

A  bugle  sounded  on  the  Curasao  and  all  the  gun  crews  took 
up  their  stations,  ready  for  any  possible  treachery. 

The  leading  destroyer,  in  response  to  a  signal  from  the  admiral, 
turned  and  led  the  way  towards  England  and  the  submarines 
were  ordered  to  follow.  They  immediately  did  so.  The  surrender 
had  been  accomplished. 

Each  cruiser  turned,  and,  keeping  a  careful  lookout,  steamed 
toward  Harwich.  On  the  deck  of  one  of  the  largest  of  the  sub- 
marines, which  carried  two  5.9  guns,  twenty-three  officers  and  men 
were  counted.  The  craft  was  estimated  to  be  nearly  300  feet  in 
length.  Its  number  had  been  painted  out. 

Near  the  Ship  Wash  lightship  three  large  British  seaplanes, 
followed  by  an  airship,  were  observed.  One  of  the  submarines  was 
seen  to  send  up  a  couple  of  carrier  pigeons  and  at  once  a  signal 
was  flashed  from  the  admiral  that  it  had  no  right  to  do  this. 

When  the  ships  had  cleared  the  mine  field  and  entered  the 
war  channel  the  " paravanes"  were  hauled  aboard.  On  reaching  a 
point  some  twenty  miles  off  Harwich  the  ships  dropped  anchor  and 
Captain  Addison  went  out  on  the  warship  Maidstone. 

British  crews  were  then  put  on  board  the  submarines  to  take 
them  into  harbor.  With  the  exception  of  the  engine  staffs  all  the 
German  sailors  remained  on  deck.  The  submarines  were  then 
taken  through  the  gates  of  the  harbor  and  the  German  crews 
were  transferred  to  the  transports  and  taken  back  to  Germany. 

As  the  boats  went  through  the  gates  a  white  signal  was  run 
up  on  each  of  them  with  the  German  flag  underneath. 


636  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Each  German  submarine  commander  at  the  transfer  was 
required  to  sign  a  declaration  to  the  effect  that  his  vessel  was  in 
running  order,  that  its  periscope  was  intact,  that  its  torpedoes 
were  unloaded  and  that  its  torpedo  heads  were  safe. 

Orders  had  been  issued  forbidding  any  demonstration  and 
these  instructions  were  obeyed  to  the  letter.  There  was  complete 
silence  as  the  submarines  surrendered  and  as  the  crews  were 
transferred. 

On  November  21st,  the  German  High  Seas  fleet  that  had 
been  protected  by  the  submarines  surrendered  to  the  combined 
fleet  consisting  of  British,  American  and  French  battleships. 
The  British  admiralty's  terse  statement  concerning  the  historic 
spectacle  follows: 

The  commander-in-chief  of  the  Grand  Fleet  has  reported  that  at 
9.30  o'clock  this  morning  he  met  the  first  and  main  installment  of  the 
German  high  seas  fleet,  which  is  surrendering  for  internment.  Admiral 
Sir  David  Beatty  is  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Grand  Fleet. 

On  the  same  day  another  flotilla  of  German  U-boats  also  was 
surrendered  to  a  British  squadron.  There  were  nineteen  sub- 
marines in  all;  the  twentieth  broke  down  on  the  way. 

The  Grand  Fleet,  accompanied  by  five  American  battleships 
and  three  French  cruisers,  steamed  out  at  3  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  November  21st,  from  its  Scottish  base  to  accept  the  surrender. 
The  vessels  moved  in  two  long  columns. 

The  German  fleet  which  surrendered  consisted  of  nine  battle- 
ships, five  cruisers,  seven  light  cruisers  and  fifty  destroyers. 
Seventy-one  vessels  in  all.  There  remained  to  be  surrendered  two 
battleships,  which  were  under  repair,  and  fifty  modern  torpedo- 
boat  destroyers. 

One  German  destroyer  while  on  its  way  across  the  North  Sea 
with  the  other  ships  of  the  German  High  Seas  fleet  to  surrender 
struck  a  mine.  It  was  so  badly  damaged  that  it  sank. 

Describing  the  surrender  of  the  German  warships  to  Sir  David 
Beatty,  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  grand  fleet,  correspondents 
said  that  after  all  the  German  ships  had  been  taken  over,  the  British 
admiral  went  through  the  line  on  the  Queen  Elizabeth,  every 
Allied  vessel  being  manned  and  greeting  the  admiral  and  the  flag- 
ship with  loud  and  ringing  cheers. 

The  British  grand  fleet  put  to  sea  in  two  single  lines  six  miles 


Courtesy  of  Joseph  A.  Steinmetz,  Phil/I. 

THE  EYE 


OF  THE   SUBMARINE 

Diagram  of  a  periscope,  showing  how,  when  its  tip  is  lifted  out  of  water,  a  picture  of 
the  sea's  surface  is  reflected  downward  from  a  prism,  through  lenses,  and  then  a  lower 
prism,  hence  to  the  officer's  eye.  It  turns  in  any  direction. 


THE   PIRATES  OF  THE   UNDER-SEAS        639 

apart,  and  so  formed  as  to  enable  the  surrendering  fleet  to  come 
up  the  center.  The  leading  ship  of  the  German  line  was  sighted 
between  9  and  10  o'clock  in  the  morning.  It  was  the  Seydlitz, 
flying  the  German  naval  ensign. 

A  telegram  received  in  Amsterdam  from  Berlin  gave  this  list 
of  surrendered  warships,  which  includes  one  mpre  battleship  than 
later  reports  showed : 

Battleships — Kaiser,  24,113  tons;  Kaiserin,  24,113  tons; 
Koenig  Albert,  24,113  tons;  Kronprinz  Wilhelm,  25,000  tons; 
Prinzregent  Luitpold,  24,113  tons;  Markgraf,  25,293  tons;  Grosser 
Kurfuerst,  25,293  tons;  Bayern,  28,000  tons;  Koenig,  25,293  tons, 
and  Friedrich  der  Grosse,  24,113. 

Battle  Cruisers— Hindenburg,  27,000  tons  ;  Derflinger,  28,000 
tons;  Seydlitz,  25,000  tons;  Moltke,  23,000  tons,  and  Von  Der 
Tann,  18,800  tons. 

Light  Cruisers — Bremen,  4,000  tons;  Brummer,  4,000  tons; 
Frankfurt,  5,400  tons;  Koeln,  tonnage  uncertain;  Dresden,  tonnage 
uncertain,  and  Emden,  5,400  tons. 


CHAPTER  LI 
APPROACHING  THE  FINAL  STAGE 

THE  might  and  pride  of  Germany  were  smashed  and  humbled 
by  Foch  in  frontal  attacks  divided  roughly  into  three  great 
sectors.  The  first  of  these  attacks  was  delivered  by  the 
French  and  Americans  in  the  southern  sector  which  included 
Verdun  and  the  Argonne.  The  second  smash  was  delivered  by 
British,  French  and  Americans  in  the  Cambrai  sector.  The  third 
was  delivered  by  British,  Belgians,  French  and  Americans  in  the 
Belgian  sector  on  the  north  of  the  great  battle  line. 

The  Cambrai  operation  had  as  its  first  objectives  the  possession 
of  the  strategic  railways  both  of  which  ran  from  Valenciennes,  one 
to  the  huge  distribution  center  at  Douai;  the  other  to  Cambrai 
itself.  To  reach  these  objectives  the  Allies  were  obliged  to  cross 
the  Sensee  and  the  Escaut  canals  under  infantry  and  artillery  fire. 
Besides  these  natural  obstacles,  there  was  the  famous  Hunding  line 
of  fortifications  erected  by  the  Germans  between  the  Scarpe  and  the 
Oise  River. 

The  attack  was  opened  in  force  on  September  18,  1918,  by 
the  Fourth  British  army  under  General  Rawlinson  and  the  First 
French  army  under  General  Debeney.  The  assault  was  successful 
northwest  of  St.  Quentin  and  determined  German  counter-attacks 
were  broken  down  by  French  and  British  artillery  fire. 

The  Third  British  army  under  General  Byng  and  the  Thirtieth 
American  division  co-operating  with  the  First  British  army  under 
Sir  Henry  Home,  attacked  furiously  over  a  fourteen-mile  front 
toward  Cambrai.  The  net  result  of  this  operation  was  the  possession 
of  the  Canal  du  Nord,  the  taking  of  several  villages,  and  6,000  prison- 
ers. This  was  on  September  27th.  The  following  day  the  same  forces 
captured  Fontaine-Notre  Dame,  Marcoing,  Noyelles,  and  Cantaing. 
More  than  200  guns  were  captured  and  10,000  prisoners.  On 
September  29th  the  Americans  took  Bellecourt  and  Nauroy,  and 
invested  the  suburbs  of  Cambrai.  The  British  crossed  the  Escaut 

MO 


APPROACHING  THE  FINAL  STAGE          641 

canal  and  the  Canadians  penetrated  some  of  the  environs  of 
Cambrai. 

The  resolution  and  ferocity  of  the  attack  thoroughly  dismayed 
the  Germans,  and  the  salient  produced  by  the  smash  forced  the 
Teutons  to  evacuate  the  greatly  prized  Lens  coal  fields  on  October 
3d.  Home  and  Byng  continued  their  advance,  the  former  occu- 
pying Biache-St.  Vaast  southwest  of  Douai,  and  the  latter  reaching 
a  position  five  miles  northwest  of  Cambrai. 

Caught  between  the  jaws  of  the  pincers,  the  German  forces 
occupying  Cambrai  made  haste  to  escape  outright  capture.  The 
city  that  had  been  the  objective  of  British  hopes  and  thrusts  for 
two  years,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Allies.  The  German  retreat 
extended  over  a  thirty-mile  front  and  included  both  St.  Quentin 
and  Cambrai.  Simultaneously  the  German  forces  between  Arras 
and  St.  Quentin  fell  steadily  backward.  Le  Cateau  and  Zazeuel 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British  October  17th,  three  thousand 
prisoners  and  a  ojiantity  of  war  material  being  included  in  the  bag. 

In  the  meantime  General  Mangin  attacking  in  the  Laon  sector, 
drove  the  Germans  from  the  strategic  Chemin  des  Dames  and  with 
General  Berthelot  captured  Berry-au-Bac,  the  St.  Gobain  massif 
and  completed  contact  with  Generals  Pershing  and  Gouraud  on 
the  right  and  with  Generals  Rawlinson  and  Debeney  on  the  left. 

The  Allied  advance  now  became  a  huge  steel  broom,  sweeping 
the  Germans  irresistibly  before  it.  The  operation  extended  from 
the  Oise  southeast  to  the  Aisne,  broadening  thence  until  it  included 
the  entire  front.  The  Hindenburg  line,  the  Somme  battle-field, 
the  Hunding  line,  were  all  quickly  overrun.  The  fortress  of 
Maubeuge,  fifty  miles  northeast  of  St.  Quentin,  which  was  con- 
nected with  that  city  by  a  triple  railway  connection,  was  evacuated 
as  a  direct  result  of  this  operation. 

When  St.  Quentin  itself  fell  into  the  hands  of  Debeney,  it 
was  found  that  the  Germans  had  deported  the  entire  civilian  popu- 
lation of  50,000. 

This  was  the  crux  of  the  operations  by  Foch.  Germans  were 
given  no  rest;  night  and  day  the  pressure  continued.  Every  clash 
showed  the  increasing  superiority  of  the  Allies  both  in  men  and 
material  and  the  corresponding  deterioration  of  the  German  forces. 
This  demoralization  of  the  Germans  extended  from  the  High  Com- 
mand to  the  private  soldier.  Prisoners  poured  into  the  hands  of 


642  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

the  Allies.  Evacuation  of  Lille  was  commenced  on  October  2d 
and  Roubaix  and  Turcoing  also  fell. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  Germany's  military  debacle.  The 
tune  was  ripe  for  the  coup-de-grace  soon  to  be  delivered  by  Ameri- 
cans co-operating  with  the  Allies  on  a  seventy-one  mile  front. 

The  Kaiser,  Ludendorf  and  von  Hindenburg  abandoned  hope. 
The  command  went  forth  from  the  German  general  headquarters  to 
retreat,  retreat,  retreat,  while  Prince  Maximilian  of  Baden  appealed 
to  America  for  an  armistice.  The  sword  hi  Germany's  hand  was 
broken.  Autocracy,  defeated  in  the  eyes  of  its  deluded  subjects  and 
discredited  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  was  in  headlong  flight.  Its 
only  concern  was  to  save  as  much  as  possible  from  the  ruins  of  the 
ostentatious  temple  it  had  reared. 


CHAPTER  LII 
LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  WAR 

FROM  November  1st  until  November  llth,  the  day  when 
the  armistice  granting  terms  to  Germany  was  signed,  the 
collapse   of  the  German  defensive  was  complete.      The 
army   that   under   von   Hindenburg  and   Ludendorf  had 
smashed  its  way  over  Poland,  Roumania,  Serbia,  Belgium,  and  into 
the  heart  of  France,  was  now  a  military  machine  in  full  retreat. 
It  is  only  justice  to  that  machine  to  say  that  the  great  retreat 
at  no  place  degenerated  into  a  rout.     Von  Hindenburg  and  the 
German  General  Staff  had  planned  a  series  of  rear-guard  actions 
that  were  effective  in  protecting  the  main  bodies  of  infantry  and 
artillery.     Machine-gun  nests  and  airplane  attacks  were  the  main 
reliance  of  the  Germans  in  these   maneuvers  of   delay,  but  the 
German  field  artillery  also  did  its  share. 

Immense  quantities  of  material  and  many  thousands  of 
prisoners  were  captured  by  the  British,  Canadians  and  Australians 
in  the  north,  and  by  the  French  and  Americans  in  the  south. 
Simultaneously  with  this  wide  and  savage  drive  upon  the  Germans 
along  the  Belgian  and  French  fronts,  came  the  heaviest  Italian 
attack  of  the  war.  Before  it  the  Austrians  were  swept  in  a  torrent 
that  was  irresistible.  French,  English  and  American  troops 
co-operated  in  this  thrust  that  extended  from  the  plains  of  the 
Piave  into  Trentino.  The  immediate  effect  of  the  Italian  offensive 
was  to  force  Austria  to  her  knees  in  abject  surrender.  An  armis- 
tice, humiliating  in  its  terms,  was  signed  by  the  Austrian  repre- 
sentatives, and  the  back  door  to  Germany  was  opened  to  the 
Allies. 

Germany's  frantic  plea  for  an  armistice  followed.  There 
were  those  in  the  Allied  countries  who  maintained  that  nothing 
short  of  unconditional  surrender  should  be  permitted.  Cooler 
counsel  prevailed,  and  an  armistice  was  offered  to  the  German 
High  Command  through  General  Foch,  the  terms  of  which  far 
exceeded  in  severity  those  granted  to  Turkey  and  Austria.  These 

643 


644  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

were  read  for  the  first  time  by  Germany's  representatives  on  Friday, 
November  8th.  General  Foch,  when  he  gave  the  document  to  the 
German  delegation,  declared  that  Germany's  decision  must  be 
made  within  seventy-two  hours.  Eleven  o'clock  on  Monday, 
November  llth,  was  the  tune  limit  permitted  to  Germany.  The 
armistice  was  signed  by  General  Foch  and  the  German  repre- 
sentatives on  the  morning  of  November  llth,  but  fighting  did  not 
actually  cease  until  eleven  o'clock,  several  hours  after  the  terms 
had  been  agreed  to.  This  was  in  accordance  with  arrangement 
made  between  the  signers. 

Sedan,  where  Marshals  McMahon  and  Bazaine,  commanding 
the  armies  of  Napoleon  III,  surrendered  to  the  King  of  Prussia  in 
1870,  marked  the  last  notable  victory  of  the  American  forces  in 
France.  The  Sedan  of  1870  marked  the  birth  of  German  milita- 
rism. The  Sedan  of  1918  marked  its  death. 

Preceding  the  advance  of  the  Americans  upon  Sedan,  came  a 
cloud  of  aviators  in  pursuit  and  bombing  planes,  headed  by  the 
famous  aces  of  the  American  forces.  The  First  and  Second  divisions 
of  the  First  army  led  the  way.  In  the  van  of  the  Second  division 
were  the  Marines,  whose  heroism  in  Belleau  Wood  marked  the 
beginning  of  Germany's  end.  The  famous  Rainbow  division 
made  the  most  savage  thrust  of  the  action,  pursuing  the  foe  for 
ten  miles  and  sweeping  the  Freya  Hills  clear  of  machine  nests  and 
German  artillery. 

The  last  action  of  the  war  for  the  Americans  followed  imme- 
diately on  the  heels  of  the  battle  of  Sedan.  It  was  the  taking  of  the 
town  of  Stenay.  The  engagement  was  deliberately  planned  by 
the  Americans  as  a  sort  of  battle  celebration  of  the  end  of  the  war. 
The  order  fixing  eleven  o'clock  as  the  tune  for  the  conclusion  of 
hostilities,  had  been  sent  from  end  to  end  of  the  American  lines. 
Its  text  follows: 

1.  You  are  informed  that  hostilities  will  ceaae  along  the  whole  front 
at  11  o'clock  A.  M.,  November  11,  1918,  Paris  time. 

2.  No  Allied  troops  will  pass  the  line  reached  by  them  at  that  hour 
in  date  until  further  orders. 

3.  Division   commanders  will  immediately   sketch   the  location   of 
their  line.     This  sketch  will  be  returned  to  headquarters  by  the  courier 
bearing  these  orders. 

4.  All  communication  with  the  enemy,  both  before  and  after  the 
termination  of  hostilities,  is  absolutely  forbidden.     In  case  of  violation  of 


LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  WAR  645 

this  order  severest  disciplinary  measures  will  be  immediately  taken.     Any 
officer  offending  will  be  sent  to  headquarters  under  guard. 

5.  Every  emphasis  will  be  laid  on  the  fact  that  the  arrangement  is  an 
armistice  only  and  not  a  peace. 

6.  There  must  not  be  the  slightest  relaxation  of  vigilance.     Troops 
must  be  prepared  at  any  moment  for  further  operations. 

7.  Special  steps  will  be  taken  by  all  commanders  to  insure  strictest 
discipline  and  that  all  troops  be  held  in  readiness  fully  prepared  for  any 
eventuality. 

8.  Division  and  brigade  commanders  will  personally  communicate 
these  orders  to  all  organizations. 

Signal  corps  wires,  telephones  and  runners  were  used  in  carry- 
ing the  orders  and  so  well  did  the  big  machine  work  that  even 
patrol  commanders  had  received  the  orders  well  in  advance  of  the 
hour.  Apparently  the  Germans  also  had  been  equally  diligent  in 
getting  the  orders  to  the  front  line.  Notwithstanding  the  hard 
fighting  they  did  Sunday  to  hold  back  the  Americans,  the  Ger- 
mans were  able  to  bring  the  firing  to  an  abrupt  end  at  the  scheduled 
hour. 

The  staff  and  field  officers  of  the  American  army  were  disposed 
early  in  the  day  to  approach  the  hour  of  eleven  with  lessened 
activity.  The  day  began  with  less  firing  and  doubtless  the  fight- 
ing would  have  ended  according  to  plan,  had  there  not  been  a 
sharp  resumption  on  the  part  of  German  batteries.  The  Americans 
looked  upon  this  as  wantonly  useless.  It  was  then  that  orders 
were  sent  to  the  battery  commanders  for  increased  fire. 

Although  there  was  no  reason  for  it,  German  ruthlessness  was 
still  rampant  Sunday,  stirring  the  American  artillery  in  the  region 
of  Dun-sur-Meuse  and  Mouzay  to  greater  activity.  Six  hundred 
aged  men  and  women  and  children  were  in  Mouzay  when  the 
Germans  attacked  it  with  gas.  There  was  only  a  small  detach- 
ment of  American  troops  there  and  the  town  no  longer  was  of 
strategical  value.  However,  it  was  made  the  direct  target  of 
shells  filled  with  phosgene.  Every  street  reeked  with  gas. 

Poorly  clad  and  showing  plainly  evidences  of  malnutrition, 
the  inhabitants  crowded  about  the  Americans,  kissing  their  hands 
and  hailing  them  as  deliverers.  They  declared  they  had  had  no 
meat  for  six  weeks.  They  virtually  had  been  prisoners  of  war  for 
four  years  and  were  overwhelmed  with  joy  when  they  learned 
that  an  armistice  was  probable. 


646  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  last  French  town  to  fall  into  American  hands  before  the 
armistice  went  into  effect  was  Stenay.  Patrols  reported  they  had 
found  it  empty  not  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  eleven 
o'clock.  American  troops  rushed  through  the  town  and  in  a  few 
minutes  Allied  flags  were  beginning  to  appear  from  the  windows. 
As  the  church  bell  solemnly  tolled  the  hour  of  eleven,  troops  from 
the  Ninetieth  division  were  pouring  into  the  town. 

The  inhabitants  told  the  usual  stories  of  German  treatment. 
They  were  forced  to  work  at  all  sorts  of  tasks  from  seven  in  the 
morning  until  six  at  night.  In  return  they  received  paper  bills 
with  which  they  were  unable  to  purchase  milk  and  similar  necessi- 
ties. The  majority,  however,  were  so  overjoyed  at  their  deliver- 
ance that  they  were  almost  incoherent  in  discussing  the  enemy 
occupation. 

The  inhabitants  of  Stenay  remained  hiding  in  their  cellars 
even  after  the  Americans  had  entered  the  town.  They  came  out 
hesitatingly  and  in  small  groups. 

Hostilities  along  the  American  front  ended  with  a  crash  of 
cannon. 

The  early  forenoon  had  been  marked  by  a  falling  off  in  fire  all 
along  the  line,  but  an  increasing  bombardment  from  the  retreat- 
ing Germans  at  certain  points  stimulated  the  Americans  to  a 
quick  retort.  From  their  positions  north  of  Stenay  to  southeast 
of  the  town  the  Americans  began  to  bombard  fixed  targets.  The 
firing  reached  a  volume  at  times  almost  equivalent  to  a  barrage. 

Two  minutes  before  eleven  o'clock  the  firing  dwindled,  the 
last  shells  shrieking  over  No  Man's  Land  precisely  on  time. 

There  was  little  celebration  on  the  front  line,  where  American 
routine  was  scarcely  disturbed  over  the  cessation  of  fighting.  In 
the  areas  behind  the  battle  zone  there  were  celebrations  on  all 
sides.  Here  and  there  there  were  little  outbursts  of  cheering,  but 
even  those  instances  were  not  on  the  immediate  front. 

Many  of  the  French  soldiers  went  about  singing. 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  drawled  a  lieutenant  from  Texas  while 
the  artillery  was  sending  its  last  challenge  to  the  Germans,  "but 
somehow  I  can't  help  wondering  if  we  have  licked  them  enough." 

The  Germans  were  manifestly  so  glad  over  the  cessation  of 
hostilities  that  they  could  not  conceal  their  pleasure.  Prisoners 
taken  at  Stenay  grinned  with  satisfaction.  Their  demeanor  was  in 


LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  WAR  647 

sharp  contrast  to  that  of  the  American  doughboys  who  took  the 
matter  philosophically  and  went  about  their  appointed  tasks. 

In  the  front  line  it  was  the  same.  The  Americans  were  happy, 
but  quiet.  They  made  no  demonstrations.  The  Germans,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  in  a  regular  hysteria  of  joy.  They  waited  only 
until  nightfall  to  set  off  every  rocket  in  their  possession.  In  the 
evening  the  sky  was  ablaze  with  red,  green,  blue  and  yellow  flares 
all  along  the  line. 

Flags  appeared  like  magic  over  the  shell-torn  buildings  of 
Verdun,  French  and  American  colors  flying  side  by  side. 

In  every  village,  even  those  from  which  the  Germans  had 
been  driven,  there  were  flags  and  decorations  which  were  brought 
up  to  the  front  by  the  soldiers.  In  the  villages  back  of  the  line 
there  were  impromptu  celebrations  and  the  civilians  in  holiday 
spirit  saluted  the  Americans,  shouting  "the  war  is  finished." 

Northeast  of  Verdun,  just  before  11  o'clock,  American  artillery- 
men in  loading  a  six-inch  howitzer,  wrote  "good  luck"  on  a  ninety- 
pound  shell  and  "let  'er  go."  The  shot  was  aimed  at  the  cross- 
road at  Ornas,  just  ahead  of  the  American  lines. 

While  the  bells  of  the  ancient  Verdun  Cathedral  were  ringing 
the  news  of  peace  the  fortress  city  was  illuminated  and  a  military 
procession  headed  by  the  drum  corps  of  the  Twenty-sixth  American 
division  swung  along  the  crowded  streets  accompanied  by  a  French 
detachment  of  buglers  representing  the  famed  defenders  of  Verdun. 

Only  a  half  hour  before  the  Germans  had  thrown  large  shells 
within  the  city  walls,  apparently  as  a  reminder  that  Verdun  was 
still  within  the  range  of  their  guns  to  the  hills  to  the  northeast. 

Monday  afternoon  and  night  virtually  was  the  first  time  that 
Verdun  had  not  been  shelled  in  many  hours  almost  since  the  war 
began. 


CHAPTER   LIII 
THE  DRASTIC  TERMS  OF  SURRENDER 

THE  end  of  the  war  came  with  almost  the  dramatic  sudden- 
ness of  its  beginning.  Bulgaria,  hemmed  in  by  armies 
through  which  no  relief  could  penetrate,  asked  for  terms. 
The  reply  came  in  two  words,  "  Unconditional  Surrender." 

Turkey,  witnessing  the  rout  of  her  army  in  Palestine  by  the 
great  strategist,  General  Allenby,  and  a  British  army,  asked  for 
an  armistice.  The  Porte  signed  without  hesitation  an  agreement 
comprising  twenty-five  severe  requirements. 

The  surrender  of  Bulgaria  and  Turkey  forced  Austria's  hand. 
The  terms  under  which  it  was  permitted  to  capitulate  were  even 
harder  than  those  granted  to  Turkey.  They  comprised  eighteen 
requirements  divided  into  military  and  naval  clauses. 

Germany,  proud,  imperial  Germany,  met  the  greatest  humilia- 
tion of  all  the  Teutonic  allies  when  the  Kaiser  and  the  German 
High  Command  were  brought  to  their  knees.  Thirty-five  clauses, 
the  most  severe  and  drastic  ever  demanded  from  a  great  power, 
were  included  in  the  armistice  agreement.  Only  the  imminent 
menace  of  an  invasion  of  Germany  would  have  sufficed  to  compel 
the  German  representatives  to  sign  such  a  document.  Following 
are  the  drafts  of  the  Turkish,  Austrian  and  German  armistice 
agreements. 

THE   TURKISH   AGREEMENT 

1.  The  opening  of  the  Dardanelles  and   the  Bosporus  and  access 
to  the  Black  Sea.     Allied  occupation  of  the  Dardanelles  and  Bosporus 
forts. 

2.  The  positions  of  all  mine  fields,  torpedo  tubes  and  other  obstruc- 
tions in  Turkish  waters  are  to  be  indicated,  and  assistance  given  to  sweep 
or  remove  them,  as  may  be  required. 

3.  All  available  information  concerning  mines  in  the  Black  Sea  is  to 
be  communicated. 

4.  All  Allied  prisoners  of  war  and  Armenian  interned  persons  and 
prisoners  are  to  be  collected  in  Constantinople  and  handed  over  uncon- 
ditionally to  the  Allies. 

648 


THE  DRASTIC  TERMS  OF  SURRENDER     649 

5.  Immediate  demobilization  of  the  Turkish  army,  except  such  troops 
as  are  required  for  surveillance  on  the  frontiers  and  for  the  maintenance 
of  internal  order.     The  number  of  effectives  and  their  disposition  to  be 
determined  later  by  the  Allies. 

6.  The  surrender  of  all  war  vessels  in  Turkish  waters  or  waters 
occupied  by  Turkey.     These  ships  will  be  interned  in  such  Turkish  port 
or  ports  as  may  be  directed,  except  such  small  vessels  as  are  required  for 
police  and  similar  purposes  in  Turkish  territorial  waters. 

7.  The  Allies  to  have  the  right  to  occupy  any  strategic  points  in  the 
event  of  any  situation  arising  which  threatens  the  security  of  the  Allies. 

8.  Use  by  Allied  ships  of  all  ports  and  anchorages  now  in  Turkish 
occupation  and  denial  of  their  use  by  the  enemy.     Similar  conditions 
are  to  apply  to  Turkish  mercantile  shipping  in  Turkish  waters  for  the 
purposes  of  trade  and  the  demobilization  of  the  army. 

9.  Allied  occupation  of  the  Taurus  Tunnel  system. 

10.  Immediate  withdrawal  of  Turkish  troops  from  Northern  Persia 
to  behind  the  pre-war  frontier  already  has  been  ordered  and  will  be 
carried  out. 

11.  A  part  of  Transcaucasia  already  has  been  ordered  to  be  evacuated 
by  Turkish  troops.     The  remainder  to  be  evacuated,  if  required  by  the 
Allies,  after  they  have  studied  the  situation. 

12.  Wireless,  telegraph  and  cable  stations  to  be  controlled  by  the 
Allies.     Turkish  Government  messages  to  be  excepted. 

13.  Prohibition  against  the  destruction  of  any  naval,  military  or 
commercial  material. 

14.  Facilities  are  to  be  given  for  the  purchase  of  coal,  oil,  fuel  and 
naval  material  from  Turkish  sources,  after  the  requirements  of  the  coun- 
try have  been  met.     None  of  the  above  materials  are  to  be  exported. 

15.  The  surrender  of  all  Turkish  offices  in  Tripolitania  and  Cyre- 
naica  to  the  nearest  Italian  garrison.     Turkey  agrees  to  stop  supplies 
and  communication  with  these  officers  if  they  do  not  obey  the  order  to 
surrender. 

16.  The  surrender  of  all  garrisons  in  Hedjaz,  Assir,  Yemen,  Syria 
and  Mesopotamia  to  the  nearest  Allied  commander,  and  withdrawal  of 
Turkish  troops  from  Cilicia,  except  those  necessary  to  maintain  order,  as 
will  be  determined  under  Clause  6. 

17.  The  use  of  all  ships  and  repair  facilities  at  all  Turkish  ports  and 
arsenals. 

18.  The  surrender  of  all  ports  occupied  in  Tripolitania  and  Cyre- 
naica,  including  Mizurata,  to  the  nearest  Allied  garrison. 

19.  All  Germans  and  Austrians,  naval,  military  or  civilian,  to  be 
evacuated  within  one  month  from  Turkish  dominions,  and  those  in  remote 
districts  as  soon  after  that  time  as  may  be  possible. 

20.  Compliance  with  such  orders  as  may  be  conveyed  for  the  disposal 
of  equipment,  arms  and  ammunition,  including  the  transport  of  that 
portion  of  the  Turkish  army  which  is  demobilized  under  Clause  5. 


650  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

21.  An  Allied  representative  to  be  attached  to  the  Turkish  Ministry 
of  Supplies  in  order  to  safeguard  Allied  interests.     This  representative  to 
be  furnished  with  all  aid  necessary  for  this  purpose. 

22.  Turkish  prisoners  are  to  be  kept  at  the  disposal  of  the  Allied 
Powers.     The  release  of  Turkish  civilian  prisoners  and  prisoners  over 
military  age  is  to  be  considered. 

23.  An  obligation  on  the  part  of  Turkey  to  cease  all  relations  with 
the  Central  Powers. 

24.  In  case  of  disorder  in  the  six  Armenian  vilayets  the  Allies  reserve 
to  themselves  the  right  to  occupy  any  part  of  them. 

25.  Hostilities  between  the  Allies  and  Turkey  shall  cease  from  noon, 
local  time,  Thursday,  the  31st  of  October,  1918. 

THE    AUSTRIAN   AGREEMENT 
Military  Clauses 

1.  The  immediate  cessation  of  hostilities  by  land,  sea  and  air. 

2.  Total  demobilization  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  army  and  imme- 
diate withdrawal  of  all  Austro-Hungarian  forces  operating  on  the  front 
from  the  North  Sea  to  Switzerland.     Within  Austro-Hungarian  territory, 
limited  as  in   Clause  3   below,  there  shall  only  be  maintained  as  an 
organized  military  force   reduced   to   pre-war  effectiveness.      Half  the 
divisional,  corps  and  army  artillery  and  equipment  shall  be  collected  at 
points  to  be  indicated  by  the  Allies  and  United  States  of  America  for 
delivery  to  them,  beginning  with  all  such  material  as  exists  in  the  territories 
to  be  evacuated  by  the  Austro-Hungarian  forces. 

3.  Evacuation  of  all  territories  invaded  by  Austro-Hungary  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war.     Withdrawal  within  such  periods  as  shall  be  deter- 
mined by  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Allied  forces  on  each  front  of  the 
Austro-Hungarian  armies  behind  a  line  fixed  as  follows: — 

From  Pic  Umbrail  to  the  north  of  the  Stelivo  it  will  follow  the  crest 
of  the  Rhetian  Alps  up  to  the  sources  of  the  Adige  and  the  Eisach,  passing 
thence  by  Mounts  Reschen  and  Brenner  and  the  heights  of  Oetz  and 
Zoaller.  The  line  thence  turns  south,  crossing  Mount  Toblach  and  meeting 
the  present  frontier  Camic  Alps.  It  follows  this  frontier  up  to  Mount 
Tarvis  and  after  Mount  Tarvis  the  watershed  of  the  Julian  Alps  by  the 
Col  of  Predil,  Mount  Mangart,  the  Terglou  and  the  watershed  of  the 
Cols  di  Podberdo,  Podlaniscam  and  Idria.  From  this  point  the  line  turns 
southeast  towards  the  Schneeberg,  excludes  the  whole  basin  of  the  Save 
and  its  tributaries.  From  Schneeberg  it  goes  down  towards  the  coast  in 
such  a  way  as  to  include  Castua,  Mattuglia  and  Volosca  in  the  evacuated 
territories. 

It  will  also  follow  the  administrative  limits  of  the  present  province  of 
Dalmatia,  including  the  north  Lisarica  and  Trivania  and,  to  the  south, 
territory  limited  by  a  line  from  the  Semigrand  of  Cape  Planca  to  the 
summits  of  the  watersheds  eastwards,  so  as  to  include  in  the  evacuated  area 
all  the  valleys  and  water  course  flowing  towards  Sebenaco,  such  as  the 


THE  DRASTIC   TERMS  OF  SURRENDER     651 

Cicola,  Kerka,  Butisnica  and  their  tributaries.  It  will  also  include  all  the 
islands  in  the  north  and  west  of  Dalmatia  from  Premuda,  Selve,  Ulbo, 
Scherda,  Maon,  Paga  and  Puntadura  in  the  north  up  to  Meleda  in  the 
south,  embracing  Santandrea,  Busi,  Lisa,  Lesina,  Tercola,  Curzola,  Cazza 
and  Lagosta,  as  well  as  the  neighboring  rocks  and  islets  and  pressages, 
only  excepting  the  islands  of  Great  and  Small  Zirona,  Bua,  Solta  and 
Brazza.  All  territory  thus  evacuated  shall  be  occupied  by  the  forces  of 
the  Allies  and  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

All  military  and  railway  equipment  of  all  kinds,  including  coal  belong- 
ing or  within  those  territories,  to  be  left  in  situ  and  surrendered  to  the 
Allies,  according  to  special  orders  given  by  the  commander-in-chief  of 
the  forces  of  the  associated  Powers  on  the  different  fronts.  No  new 
destruction,  pillage  or  requisition  to  be  done  by  enemy  troops  in  the 
territories  to  be  evacuated  by  them  and  occupied  by  the  forces  of  the 
associated  Powers. 

4.  The  Allies  shall  have  the  right  of  free  movement  over  all  road  and 
rail  and  waterways  in  Austro-Hungarian  territory  and  of  the  use  of  the 
necessary  Austrian  and  Hungarian  means  of  transportation.     The  armies 
of  the  associated  Powers  shall  occupy  such  strategic  points  in  Austria- 
Hungary  at  times  as  they  may  deem  necessary  to  enable  them  to  conduct 
military  operations  or  to  maintain  order.     They  shall  have  the  right  of 
requisition  on  payment  for  the  troops  of  the  associated  Powers  whatever 
they  may  be. 

5.  Complete  evacuation  of  all  German  troops  within  fifteen  days  not 
only  from  the  Italian  and  Balkan  fronts,  but  from  all  Austro-Hungarian 
territory.     Internment  of  all  German  troops  which  have  not  left  Austro- 
Hungary  within  the  date. 

.  6.  The  administration  of  the  evacuated  territories  of  Austria-Hungary 
will  be  entrusted  to  the  local  authorities  under  the  control  of  the  Allied 
and  associated  armies  of  occupation. 

7.  The  immediate  repatriation  without  reciprocity  of  all  Allied 
prisoners  of  war  and  internal  subjects  and  of  civil  populations  evacuated 
from  their  homes  on  conditions  to  be  laid  down  by  the  commander-in-chief 
of  the  forces  of  the  associated  Powers  on  the  various  fronts.  Sick  and 
wounded  who  cannot  be  removed  from  evacuated  territory  will  be  cared 
for  by  Austria-Hungary  personnel,  who  will  be  left  on  the  spot  with  the 
medical  material  required. 

Naval  Clauses 

1.  Immediate  cessation  of  all  hostilities  at  sea  and  definite  information 
to  be  given  as  to  the  location  and  movements  of  all  Austro-Hungarian 
ships.     Notification  to  be  made  to  neutrals  that  freedom  of  navigation  in 
all  territorial  waters  is  given  to  the  naval  and  mercantile  marine  of  the 
Allied  and  associated  Powers,  all  questions  of  neutrality  being  waived. 

2.  Surrender  to  Allies   and   the  United   States   of  fifteen   Austro- 
Hungarian  submarines  completed  between  the  years  1910  and  1918  and 


652  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

of  all  German  submarines  which  are  in  or  may  hereafter  enter  Austro- 
Hungarian  territorial  waters.  All  other  Austro-Hungarian  submarines 
to  be  paid  off  and  completely  disarmed  and  to  remain  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Allies  and  United  States. 

3.  Surrender  to  Allies  and  United  States  with  their  complete  armament 
and  equipment  of  three  battleships,  three  light  cruisers,  nine  destroyers, 
twelve  torpedo  boats,  one  mine  layer,  six  Danube  monitors,  to  be  designated 
by  the  Allies  and  United  States  of  America.     All  other  surface  warships, 
including  river  craft,  are  to  be  concentrated  in  Austro-Hungarian  naval 
bases  to  be  designated  by  the  Allies  and  United  States  of  America  and  are 
to  be  paid  off  and  completely  disarmed  and  placed  under  the  supervision 
of  Allies  and  United  States  of  America. 

4.  Freedom  of  navigation  to  all  warships  and  merchant  ships  of 
Allied  and  associated  Powers  to  be  given  in  the  Adriatic  and  up  the  River 
Danube  and  its  tributaries  in  the  territorial  waters  and  territory  of  Austria- 
Hungary.     The  Allies  and  associated  Powers  shall  have  the  right  to  sweep 
up  all  mine  fields  and  obstructions,  and  the  positions  of  these  are  to  be 
indicated.     In  order  to  insure  the  freedom  of  navigation  on  the  Danube, 
the  Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America  shall  be  empowered  to  occupy 
or  to  dismantle  all  fortifications  or  defense  work. 

5.  The  existing  blockade  conditions  set  up  by  the  Allied  and  associated 
Powers  are  to  remain  unchanged  and  all  Austro-Hungarian  merchant 
ships  found  at  sea  are  to  remain  liable  to  capture,  save  exceptions  may  be 
made  by  a  commission  nominated  by  the  Allies  and  the  United  States  of 
America. 

6.  All  naval  aircraft  are  to  be  concentrated  and  impactionized  in 
Austro-Hungarian  bases  to  be  designated  by  the  Allies  and  United  States 
of  America. 

7.  Evacuation  of  all  the  Italian  coasts  and  of  all  ports  occupied  by 
Austria-Hungary  outside  their  national  territory  and  the  abandonment  of 
all  floating  craft,  naval  materials,  equipment  and  materials  for  inland 
navigation  of  all  kinds. 

8.  Occupation  by  the  Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America  of  the 
land  and  sea  fortifications  and  the  islands  which  form  the  defenses  and 
of  the  dockyards  and  arsenal  at  Pola. 

9.  All  merchant  vessels  held  by  Austria-Hungary  belonging  to  the 
Allies  and  associated  Powers  to  be  returned. 

10.  No  destruction  of  ships  or  of  materials  to  be  permitted  before 
evacuation,  surrender  or  restoration. 

11.  All  naval  and  mercantile  marine  prisoners  of  the  Allied  and 
associated  Powers  in  Austro-Hungarian  hands  to  be  returned  without 
reciprocity. 

THE   GERMAN  AGREEMENT 

1.  Cessation  of  operations  by  land  and  in  the  air  six  hours  after  the 
signature  of  the  armistice. 


THE  DRASTIC  TERMS  OF  SURRENDER     653 

2.  Immediate  evacuation  of  invaded  countries:    Belgium,   France, 
Alsace-Lorraine,  Luxemburg,  so  ordered  as  to  be  completed  within  fourteen 
days  from  the  signature  of  the  armistice.     German  troops  which  have  not 
left  the  above-mentioned  territories  within  the  period  fixed  will  become 
prisoners  of  war.     Occupation  by  the  Allied  and  United  States  forces 
jointly  will  keep  pace  with  evacuation  in  these  areas.     All  movements 
of  evacuation  and  occupation  will  be  regulated  in  accordance  with  a  note 
annexed  to  the  stated  terms. 

3.  Repatriation  beginning  at  once  and  to  be  completed  within  fifteen 
days   of  all  inhabitants  of  the  countries  above  mentioned,   including 
hostages  and  persons  under  trial  or  convicted. 

4.  Surrender  in  good  condition  by  the  German  armies  of  the  follow- 
ing equipment:   Five  thousand  guns  (two  thousand  five  hundred  heavy, 
two  thousand  five  hundred  field),  twenty-five  thousand  machine  guns, 
three  thousand  minenwerfers,  seventeen  hundred  airplanes.     The  above 
to  be  delivered  in  situ  to  the  Allies  and  the  United  States  troops  in  accord- 
ance with  the  detailed  conditions  laid  down  in  the  annexed  note. 

5.  Evacuation  by  the  German  armies  of  the  countries  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Rhine.     These  countries  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  shall 
be  administered  by  the  local  troops  of  occupation  under  the  control  of  the 
Allied  and  United  States  armies  of  occupation.     The  occupation  of  these 
territories  will  be  carried  out  by  Allied  and  United  States  garrisons  holding 
the  principal  crossings  of  the  Rhine,  Mayence,  Coblenz,  Cologne,  together 
with  bridgeheads  at  these  points  in  thirty  kilometer  radius  on  the  right 
bank  and  by  garrisons  similarly  holding  the  strategic  points  of  the  regions. 

A  neutral  zone  shall  be  reserved  on  the  right  of  the  Rhine  between 
the  stream  and  a  line  drawn  parallel  to  it  forty  kilometers  (twenty-six 
miles)  to  the  east  from  the  frontier  of  Holland  to  the  parallel  of  Gernsheim 
and  as  far  as  practicable  a  distance  of  thirty  kilometers  (twenty  miles) 
from  the  east  of  stream  from  this  parallel  upon  Swiss  frontier.  Evacuation 
by  the  enemy  of  the  Rhine  lands  shall  be  so  ordered  as  to  be  completed 
within  a  further  period  of  sixteen  days,  in  all  thirty-one  days  after  the 
signature  of  the  armistice.  All  movements  of  evacuation  and  occupation 
will  be  regulated  according  to  the  note  annexed. 

6.  In  all  territory  evacuated  by  the  enemy  there  shall  be  no  evacuation 
of  inhabitants;  no  damage  or  harm  shall  be  done  to  the  persons  or  property 
of  the  inhabitants.    No  destruction  of  any  kind  to  be  committed.    Military 
establishments  of  all  kinds  shall  be  delivered  as  well  as  military  stores  of 
food,  munitions,  equipment  not  removed  during  the  periods  fixed  for 
evacuation.     Stores  of  food  of  all  kinds  for  the  civil  population,  cattle, 
etc.,  shall  be  left  in  situ.     Industrial  establishments  shall  not  be  impaired 
in  any  way  and  their  personnel  shall  not  be  moved.     Roads  and  means 
of  communication  of  every  kind,  railroad,  waterways,  main  roads,  bridges, 
telegraphs,  telephones,  shall  be  in  no  manner  impaired.     No  person  shall 
be  prosecuted  for  offenses  of  participation  in  war  measures  prior  to  the 
signing  of  the  armistice. 


654  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

7.  All  civil  and  military  personnel  at  present  employed  on  them 
shall  remain.     Five  thousand  locomotives,  one  hundred  fifty  thousand 
wagons  and  five  thousand  motor  lorries  in  good  working  order  with  all 
necessary  spare  parts  and  fittings  shall  be  delivered  to  the  associated 
Powers  within  the  period  fixed  for  the  evacuation  of  Belgium  and  Luxem- 
burg.   The  railways  of  Alsace-Lorraine  shall  be  handed  over  within  thirty- 
six  days,  together  with  all  pre-war  personnel  and  material.      Further 
material  necessary  for  the  working  of  railways  in  the  country  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine  shall  be  left  in  situ.    All  stores  of  coal  and  material 
for  the  upkeep  of  permanent  ways,  signals  and  repair  shops  left  entire 
in  situ  and  kept  in  an  efficient  state  by  Germany  during  the  whole  period 
of  armistice.     All  barges  taken  from  the  Allies  shall  be  restored  to  them. 
All  civil  and  military  personnel  at  present  employed  on  such  means  of 
communication    and    transporting    including    waterways    shall    remain. 

8.  The  German  command  shall  be  responsible  for  revealing  within 
forty-eight  hours  all  mines  or  delay  acting  fuses  disposed  on  territory 
evacuated  by  the  German  troops  and  shall  assist  in  their  discovery  and 
destruction.      The  German  command  shall  also  reveal  all  destructive 
measures  that  may  have  been  taken  (such  as  poisoning  or  polluting  of 
springs,  wells,  etc.)  under  penalty  of  reprisals. 

9.  The  right  of  requisition  shall  be  exercised  by  the  Allies  and  the 
United  States  armies  in  all  occupied  territory,  "subject  to  regulation  of 
accounts  with  those  whom  it  may  concern."    The  upkeep  of  the  troops  of 
occupation  in  the  Rhine  land  (excluding  Alsace-Lorraine)  shall  be  charged 
to  the  German  Government. 

10.  An   immediate   repatriation   without   reciprocity   according   to 
detailed  conditions  which  shall  be  fixed,  of  all  Allied  and  United  States 
prisoners  of  war.     The  Allied  Powers  and  the  United  States  shall  be  able 
to  dispose  of  these  prisoners  as  they  wish.     This  condition  annuls  the 
previous  conventions  on  the  subject  of  the  exchange  of  prisoners  of  war, 
including  the  one  of  July,  1918,  in  course  of  ratification.     However,  the 
repatriation  of  German  prisoners  of  war  interned  in  Holland  and  in  Switzer- 
land shall  continue  as  before.     The  repatriation  of  German  prisoners  of 
war  shall  be  regulated  at  the  conclusion  of  the  preliminaries  of  peace. 

11.  Sick  and  wounded,  who  cannot  be  removed  from  evacuated 
territory  will  be  cared  for  by  German  personnel  who  will  be  left  on  the 
spot  with  the  medical  material  required. 

12.  All  German  troops  at  present  in  any  territory  which  before  the 
war  belonged  to  Roumania,  Turkey  or  Austria-Hungary  shall  immediately 
withdraw  within  the  frontiers  of  Germany  as  they  existed  on  August  1, 1914. 
German   troops  now  in   Russian   territory  shall   withdraw  within   the 
frontiers  of  Germany,  as  soon  as  the  Allies,  taking  into  account  the  internal 
situation  of  those  territories,  shall  decide  that  the  time  for  this  has  come. 

13.  Evacuation  by  German  troops  to  begin  at  once  and  all  German 
instructors,  prisoners  and  civilian  as  well  as  military  agents,  now  on  the 
territory  of  Russia  (as  defined  before  1914)  to  be  recalled. 


ll-2Lsli:8.S 

IB   g   jr^^g,,   ^   <     H 

OP    p->,  CO    Q    ^    CD    m      *^ 
^  —  rt-JO  ^«    P    g    ft.   O 

gpo"(^B-p-.  H 
re    Sr^  ^2.     _  2T?  (V\    <T5  ^ 


0  118  •  fd< 

1  Q-    ,-H^q 

°         O? 


mu  m 


©  .Press  Illustrating  Service. 

GERMANS  FLEEING  BEFORE  ALLIED   ADVANCE 

To  speed  their  retreat  the  German  engineers  built  a  temporary  bridge  usinj 

a  British  tank  as  a  foundation. 


Press  Illustrating  Service. 

THE   GERMAN   GOOSE-STEP 

The  Kaiser  reviews  his  troops  marching  with  the  goose-step.  This  photo- 
graph shows  the  pick  of  the  German  army.  Most  of  these  men  were  killed  by 
the  end  of  the  first  year  of  the  war, 


14.  German  troops  to  cease  at  once  all  requisitions  and  seizures  and 
any  other  undertakings  with  a  view  to  obtaining  supplies  intended  for 
Germany  in  Roumania  and  Russia  (as  defined  on  August  1,  1914). 

15.  Renunciation   of  the   treaties  of  Bucharest  and  Brest-Litovsk 
and  of  the  supplementary  treaties. 

16.  The  Allies  shall  have  free  access  to  the  territories  evacuated  by 
the  Germans  on  their  eastern  frontier  either  through  Danzig  or  by  the 
Vistula  in  order  to  convey  supplies  to  the  populations  of  those  territories 
and  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  order. 

17.  Evacuation  by  all  German  forces  operating  hi  East  Africa  within 
a  period  to  be  fixed  by  the  Allies. 

18.  Repatriation,  without  reciprocity,   within  maximum   period   of 
one  month,  in  accordance  with  detailed  conditions  hereafter  to  be  fixed, 
of  all  civilians  interned  or  deported  who  may  be  citizens  of  other  Allied 
or  associated  states  than  those  mentioned  in  clause  three,   paragraph 
nineteen. 

19.  The  following  financial  conditions  are  required:    Reparation  for 
damage  done.     While  such  armistice  lasts  no  public  securities  shall  be 
removed  by  the  enemy  which  can  serve  as  a  pledge  to  the  Allies  for  the 
recovery  or  repatriation  of  the  cash  deposit,  in  the  National  Bank  of 
Belgium,  and  in  general  immediate  return  of  all  documents,  specie,  stocks, 
shares,  paper  money  together  with  plant  for  the  issue  thereof,  touching 
public  or  private  interests  in  the  invaded  countries.     Restitution  of  the 
Russian  and  Roumanian  gold  yielded  to  Germany  or  taken  by  that  Power. 
This  gold  to  be  delivered  in  trust  to  the  Allies  until  the  signature  of  peace. 

20.  Immediate  cessation  of  all  hostilities  at  sea  and  definite  informa- 
tion to  be  given  as  to  the  location  and  movements  of  all  German  ships. 
Notification  to  be  given  to  neutrals  that  freedom  of  navigation  in  all 
territorial  waters  is  given  to  the  naval  and  merchant  marines  of   the 
Allied  and  associate  Powers,  all  questions  of  neutrality  being  waived. 

21.  All  naval  and  mercantile  marine  prisoners  of  war  of  the  Allied 
and  associated  Powers  in  German  hands  to  be  returned  without  reciprocity. 

22.  Surrender  to  the  Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America  of  all 
German  submarines  now  existing  (including  all  submarine  cruisers  and 
mine-laying  submarines),  with  their  complete  armament  and  equipment,  in 
ports  which  will  be  specified  by  the  Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America. 
Those  which  cannot  take  the  sea  shall  be  disarmed  of  the  material  and 
personnel  and  shall  remain  under  the  supervision  of  the  Allies  and  the 
United  States.     All  the  conditions  of  the  article  shall  be  carried  into 
effect  within  fourteen  days.     Submarines  ready  for  sea  shall  be  prepared 
to  leave  German  ports  immediately  upon  orders  by  wireless,  and  the 
remainder  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 

23.  The  following  German  surface  warships  which  shall  be  designated 
by  the  Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America  shall  forthwith  be  disarmed 
and  thereafter  interned  hi  neutral  ports,  to  be  designated  by  the  Allies  and 
the  United  States  of  America  and  placed  under  the  surveillance  of  the 


658  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America,  only  caretakers  being  left  on 
board,  namely: 

Six  battle  cruisers,  ten  battleships,  eight  light  cruisers,  including 
two  mine  layers,  fifty  destroyers  of  the  most  modern  type.  All  other 
surface  warships  (including  river  craft)  are  to  be  concentrated  in  naval 
bases  to  be  designated  by  the  Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America, 
and  are  to  be  paid  off  and  completely  disarmed  and  placed  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America.  All  vessels 
of  the  auxiliary  fleet  (trawlers,  motor  vessels,  etc.)  are  to  disarmed. 
Vessels  designated  for  internment,  shall  be  ready  to  leave  German  ports 
within  seven  days  upon  directions  by  wireless,  and  the  military  armament 
of  all  vessels  of  the  auxiliary  fleet  shall  be  put  on  shore. 

24.  The  Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America  shall  have  the 
right  to  sweep  all  mine  fields  and  obstructions  laid  by  Germany  outside 
German  territorial  waters,  and  the  positions  of  these  are  to  be  indicated. 

25.  Freedom  of  access  to  and  from  the  Baltic  to  be  given  to  the  naval 
and  mercantile  marine  of  the  Allied  and  associated  Powers.     To  secure 
this  Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America  shall  be  empowered  to  occupy 
all  German  forts,  fortifications,  batteries  and  defense  works  of  all  kinds 
in  all  the  entrances  from  the  Cattegat  into  the  Baltic,  and  to  sweep  up  all 
mines  and  obstructions  within  and  without  German  territorial  waters 
without  any  question  of  neutrality  being  raised,  and  the  positions  of  all 
such  mines  and  obstructions  are  to  be  indicated. 

26.  The  existing  blockade  conditions  set  up  by  the  Allies  and  asso- 
ciated Powers  are  to  remain  unchanged  and  all  German  merchant  ships 
found  at  sea  are  to  remain  liable  to  capture.     The  Allies  and  the  United 
States  shall  give  consideration  to  the  provisioning  of  Germany  during  the 
armistice  to  the  extent  recognized  as  necessary. 

27.  All  naval  aircraft  are  to  be  concentrated  and  immobilized  in 
German  bases  to  be  specified  by  the  Allies  and  the  United  States. 

28.  In  evacuating  the  Belgian  coasts  and  ports,  Germany  shall  aban- 
don all  merchant  ships,  tugs,  lighters,  cranes  and  all  other  harbor  mate- 
rials, all  materials  for  inland  navigation,  all  aircraft  and  all  materials 
and  stores,  all  arms  and  armaments,  and  all  stores  and  apparatus  of  all 
kinds. 

29.  All  Black  Sea  ports  are  to  be  evacuated  by  Germany,  all  Russian 
war  vessels  of  all  descriptions  seized  by  Germany  in  the  Black  Sea  are 
to  be  handed  over  to  the  Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America;   all 
neutral  merchant  vessels  seized  are  to  be  released;  all  warlike  and  other 
materials  of  all  kinds  seized  in  those  parts  are  to  be  returned  and  German 
materials  as  specified  in  clause  twenty-eight  are  to  be  abandoned. 

30.  All  merchant  vessels  in  German  hands  belonging  to  the  Allied 
and  associated  Powers  are  to  be  restored  in  ports  to  be  specified  by  the 
Allies  and  the  United  States  of  America  without  reciprocity. 

31.  No  destruction  of  ships  or  materials  to  be  permitted  before 
evacuation,  surrender  or  restoration. 


THE  DRASTIC  TERMS  OF  SURRENDER     659 

32.  The  German  Government  will  notify  neutral   governments    of 
the  world,  and  particularly  the  governments  of  Norway,  Sweden,   Den- 
mark and  Holland,  that  all  restrictions  placed  on  the  trading  of  their 
vessels  with  the  Allied  and  associated  countries,  whether  by  the  German 
Government  or  by  private  German  interests,  and  whether  in  return  for 
specific  concessions  such  as  the  export  of  shipbuilding  materials  or  not, 
are  immediately  canceled. 

33.  No  transfers  of  German  merchant  shipping  of  any  description  to 
any  neutral  flag  are  to  take  place  after  signature  of  the  armistice. 

34.  The  duration  of  the  armistice  is  to  be  thirty  days,  with  option 
to  extend.     During  this  period,  on  failure  of  execution  of  any  of  the  above 
clauses,  the  armistice  may  be  denounced  by  one  of  the  contracting  parties 
on  forty-eight  hours'  previous  notice.     It  is  understood  that  the  execution 
of  Articles  3  and  18  shall  not  warrant  the  denunciation  of  the  armistice  on 
the  ground  of  insufficient  execution  within  a  period  fixed,  except  in  the 
case  of  bad  faith  in  carrying  them  into  execution.     In  order  to  assume  the 
execution  of  this  convention  under  the  best  conditions,  the  principle  of  a 
Permanent    International    Armistice    Commission    is    admitted.       This 
commission  shall  act  under  authority  of  the  Allied  military  and  naval 
commanders-in-chief. 

35.  This  armistice  to  be  accepted  or  refused  by  Germany  within 
seventy-two  hours  of  notification. 


CHAPTER  LIV 
PEACE  AT  LAST 

WAR  came  upon  the  world  in  August,  1914,  with  a  sud- 
denness and  an  impact  that  dazed  the  world.  When 
it  seemed,  in  1918,  that  mankind  had  habituated  him- 
self to  war  and  that  the  bloody  struggle  would  continue 
until  the  actual  exhaustion  and  extinction  of  the  nations  involved, 
peace  suddenly  appeared.  The  debacle  of  the  Teutonic  alliance 
was  both  dramatic  and  unexpected,  except  to  those  who  knew  how 
desperate  were  the  conditions  in  the  nations  that  were  battling  for 
autocracy.  Bulgaria  was  first  to  crumble,  then  Turkey  fell,  and 
Austria-Hungary  deserted  Germany.  The  Kaiser  and  his  military 
advisers,  left  alone,  appealed  to  the  Allies  through  President  Wilson, 
for  an  armistice  during  which  peace  terms  might  be  negotiated. 
Prince  Maximilian  of  Baden,  a  statesman  whose  liberal  ideas  were 
rumored  rather  than  demonstrated,  was  chosen  to  open  negotiations. 
President  Wilson,  acting  in  concert  with  the  Allies,  referred  Prince 
Maximilian  to  Marshal  Foch. 

While  negotiations  were  pending,  a  cabled  message  was  received 
on  November  7th  to  the  effect  that  the  armistice  had  been  signed 
and  that  all  soldiers  would  cease  fighting  on  two  o'clock  of  that 
afternoon.  It  was  a  false  report,  but  it  spread  with  incredible  speed 
throughout  the  country.  Celebrations  which  included  virtually 
every  American,  made  the  country  a  gala  place  for  twenty-four 
hours.  The  American  people  with  characteristic  good  nature 
laughed  at  the  hoax  next  day  and  settled  down  in  patience  to  await 
the  inevitable  declaration  of  an  armistice. 

The  true  report  arrived  about  three  o'clock,  Eastern  time,  in  the 
morning  of  November  llth.  Shrieks  of  whistles,  the  booming  of 
cannon,  and  the  clangor  of  bells,  awoke  millions  of  sleeping  persons, 
many  of  whom  trooped  into  the  streets  to  mingle  their  rejoicings 
with  those  of  their  neighbors.  For  a  day  there  was  high  carnival 
in  town  and  country  throughout  the  land,  then  the  nation  settled 
down  to  face  the  imminent  problems  of  reconstruction. 

660 


PEACE  AT  LAST  661 

One  of  these  had  to  do  with  the  immediate  reduction  of  govern- 
mental expenditures  during  the  approaching  year.  President  Wilson 
had  appealed  to  the  voters  to  elect  a  Democratic  Congress  as  an 
evidence  of  approval  for  his  administration.  The  reply  was 
a  Republican  House  of  Representatives  and  a  Republican 
Senate. 

The  Congress  that  had  been  in  continuous  session  since  America 
entered  the  war,  ended  its  labors  hi  mid-November. 

For  length,  bulk  of  appropriations  for  the  war  and  the  number 
and  importance  of  legislative  measures  passed,  the  session  was 
unprecedented. 

Appropriations  passed  aggregated  $36,298,000,000,  making 
the  total  for  this  Congress  more  than  $45,000,000,000,  of  which 
$19,412,000,000  was  appropriated  at  the  first  (an  extra)  session,  at 
which  war  was  declared  on  Germany. 

Legislation  passed  included  bills  authorizing  billions  of  Liberty 
bonds;  creation  of  the  War  Finance  Corporation;  government 
control  of  telegraphs,  telephones  and  cables;  executive  reorganiza- 
tion of  government  agencies,  and  extensions  of  the  espionage  act 
and  the  army  draft  law  by  which  men  between  eighteen  and  forty- 
five  years  of  age  were  required  to  register. 

Prohibition  and  woman  suffrage  furnished  sharp  controversies 
throughout  the  session.  The  war-time  "dry"  measure  was  com- 
pleted, but  after  the  woman  suffrage  constitutional  amendment 
resolution  had  been  adopted,  January  10th,  by  the  House,  it  was 
defeated  in  the  Senate  by  two  votes. 

Every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  belligerent  nations  owed 
almost  seven  times  as  much  money  when  peace  came  as  he  did  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war. 

Figures  of  the  war's  cost  to  the  world  compiled  by  the  Federal 
Reserve  Board  were  summarized  in  the  statement  that  the  approx- 
imate public  debt  per  capita  had  increased  from  $60  before  the  war 
to  almost  $400  at  the  end  of  July,  1918.  To  this  was  added  the 
cost  since  July,  which  is  at  the  highest  rate  of  the  entire  period. 

The  direct  cost  of  the  war  was  calculated  by  the  board  at 
somewhere  between  $170,000,000,000  and  $180,000,000,000,  not 
taking  into  account  the  authorization  of  the  debt  or  the  cost  of 
indemnities. 

Four-fifths  of  the  huge  burden  fell  upon  the  shoulders  of  the 


662  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

future,  only  Great  Britain  and  America  absorbing  a  considerable 
amount  by  taxation. 

The  total  debt  of  the  seven  principal  belligerents  before  the 
war  did  not  exceed  $25,000,000,000. 

The  board  contrasted  these  figures  with  the  total  value  of  the 
gold  and  silver  extracted  from  the  earth  since  the  beginning  of  the 
world,  which,  it  said,  hardly  exceeded  $30,000,000,000. 

The  belligerent  nations,  therefore,  owed  about  six  tunes  the 
amount  of  all  the  gold  and  silver  produced  hi  all  time. 

Prices  rose  to  three  tunes  the  average  of  what  they  were  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war. 

Great  Britain's  debt  increased  almost  ten  times  over  hi  the 
period  of  the  war,  or  from  $3,580,000,000  to  $32,450,000,000  down 
to  June,  1918.  These  figures  do  not  include  the  debts  of  Australia, 
Canada,  New  Zealand  and  South  Africa,  British  colonies. 

France's  debt  was  quadrupled  by  the  beginning  of  1918, 
increasing  from  $6,833,000,000  to  $25,410,000,000. 

Italy's  debt  rose  from  $2,929,000,000  to  $6,918,000,000. 

Figures  for  Russia  were  brought  up  only  to  September,  1917, 
but  they  showed  that  at  that  time  she  owed  $26,287,000,000,  as 
compared  with  $5,234,000,000  at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

The  public  debt  of  the  United  States  was  calculated  to 
January  1,  1918,  in  order  to  be  in  line  with  those  of  other  countries, 
increasing  by  that  date  to  over  $8,000,000,000  from  a  pre-war  figure 
of  a  billion  and  a  quarter.  Since  that  time  $11,500,000,000  have 
been  subscribed  to  the  Liberty  Loans,  thus  increasing  the  national 
debt  about  sixteen  fold. 

The  most  extraordinary  increase  of  all  was  that  of  Germany, 
rising  from  $1,208,000,000  to  $26,332,000,000. 

Austria  owed  $2,736,000,000  at  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
which  was  increased  by  June,  1917,  to  $11,573,000,000. 

Hungary  increased  her  debt  from  $1,392,000,000  to  $5,910,- 
000,000  by  December,  1917. 

The  neutrals,  Denmark,  Spain,  Holland,  Norway,  Sweden  and 
Switzerland  together  owed  $2,871,000,000  when  war  began  and 
increased  their  debts  only  to  $3,710,000,000. 

Existing  war  obligations  of  the  United  States  at  the  close  of 
1918  matured  as  follows: 

First  Liberty  Loan,  $2,000,000,000,  redeemable  at  the  option 


PEACE  AT  LAST  663 

of  the  Treasury  after  1932  and  payable  not  later  than  1947;  Second 
Liberty  Loan,  $3,808,000,000,  redeemable  after  1927,  payable 
in  1942;  Third  Liberty  Loan,  $4,176,000,000,  redeemable  and  pay- 
able without  option  hi  1928;  Fourth  Liberty  Loan,  $6,989,047,000, 
redeemable  after  1933,  payable  in  1938;  War  Savings,  $879,300,000 
up  to  November,  1918,  payable  in  1923. 

With  this  program  of  maturity,  the  Treasury  by  exercising 
its  option  could  call  in  the  nation's  war  debt  for  redemption  hi 
installments  every  five  years  until  1947. 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  William  Gibbs  McAdoo,  who  was 
also  Director  General  of  Transportation,  created  a  sensation  when 
he  resigned  both  offices  in  November,  1918,  the  resignation  to  take 
effect  January  1,  1919.  Coming  upon  the  eve  of  the  peace  con- 
ference hi  Paris  and  the  announcement  that  President  Wilson 
intended  to  head  the  American  delegates  to  the  conference,  the 
resignation  caused  widespread  surprise.  The  reasons  given  by 
Mr.  McAdoo  were  ill-health  and  a  serious  depreciation  of  his 
private  fortune  during  his  incumbency  of  governmental  positions. 

Following  the  armistice,  steps  were  immediately  taken  for  the 
repatriation  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  American  forces  in 
France  and  the  return  to  their  homes  of  the  men  in  American 
training  camps.  The  Third  Army  of  the  United  States,  com- 
manded by  General  Dickman,  was  ordered  to  the  western  shore 
of  the  Rhine,  there  to  co-operate  with  the  troops  of  the  Allies  until 
the  conclusion  of  peace  negotiations. 

The  country  was  amazed  on  November  23d  when  General 
March  announced  that  the  casualties  of  the  American  forces 
which  had  been  anticipated  as  being  less  than  100,000,  had  in 
reality  exceeded  236,000.  Explanation  for  this  lay  hi  the  fierce 
on-rush  of  the  American  forces  during  the  last  month  of  the  war. 

A  forecast  that  many  thousands  of  American  boys  would 
remain  hi  France  was  given  by  Andre  Tardieu,  General  Com- 
missioner for  Franco-American  affairs,  when  addressing  the  Asso- 
ciation of  Foreign  Correspondents  hi  New  York  City,  after  the 
armistice  had  been  signed. 

M.  Tardieu  appealed  for  permission  to  retain  American 
soldiers  in  France.  He  said: 

"We  want  first  an  immediate  assistance  hi  the  matter  of  labor. 
We  hope  that,  during  the  preparation  and  the  carrying  out  of  the 


664  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

transportation  of  your  troops  back  to  America  your  technical  units 
as  well  as  other  units  with  their  equipment  will  be  able  to  co-operate 
in  that  effort.  We  soon  will  have  to  cany  out  a  colossal  work  of 
transportation  hi  view  of  the  supplying  of  the  regions  evacuated  by 
the  enemy,  of  the  recovering  of  the  railroads  in  Northern  and 
Eastern  France  and  in  Alsace-Lorraine.  We  will  have  to  clean 
the  reconquered  ground  of  the  rums  accumulated  by  the  German 
hordes.  Your  army  will  help  us  in  this  work  while  our  population 
will  restore  her  cities  and  villages. 

"Again  in  reference,  not  to  all  purchases — as  a  large  part  of 
our  needs  will  be  supplied  outside  of  the  United  States — but  in 
reference  to  those  purchases  which  will  be  made  in  America,  we  are 
in  need  of  credits  in  dollars  covering  about  fifty  per  cent  of  our  total 
purchases  for  reconstruction.  The  assurance  of  that  financial 
help  will  bring  to  every  one  in  France,  government  and  private 
enterprise,  the  courage  and  faith  necessary  to  apply  to  peace  recon- 
struction the  energy  and  the  spirit  of  enterprise  she  has  so  promi- 
nently shown  during  the  war. 

"We  will  exact  from  Germany  the  restitution  of  each  part  of 
the  material  taken  away  from  us  as  can  be  recovered.  But,  besides 
that  restitution,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  speed  is  a  primary 
condition  in  the  reconstruction  of  France,  and  that  America,  on 
account  of  her  immense  capacities  for  production,  ought  to  give  us 
the  first  help.  We  need  ships,  chartered  ships  as  well  as  ships 
transferred  to  our  flag;  the  speedy  reconstruction  of  the  country  is 
strictly  depending  on  the  revival  of  our  mercantile  fleet. 

"The  colossal  effort  put  up  by  the  United  States  in  the  building 
of  her  fleet  for  war  purposes  will  not  be  diverted  from  this  sacred 
end  if  it,  in  part,  helps  France  to  recover  on  the  seas,  for  the  revival 
of  her  forces  in  peace,  the  means  of  transportation  which  were  lost 
to  her  on  account  of  the  war. 

"In  reference  to  these  four  items — labor,  credit,  raw  materials, 
ships — I  have  explained  in  detail  our  needs  to  your  administration, 
by  whose  welcome  I  have  been  deeply  moved.  What  I  told  them, 
what  I  asked  for,  I  am  telling  it  to  you  again,  because  a  policy  of 
secrecy  does  not  befit  our  day. 

"We  have  lost  two  million  and  a  half  men;  some  are  dead, 
some  maimed,  some  have  returned  sick  and  incapacitated  from 
German  prisons.  Whether  they  be  lost  altogether,  or  whether  their 


PEACE  AT  LAST  665 

working  capacity  be  permanently  reduced,  they  will  not  participate 
in  this  reconstruction.  The  fifteenth  part  of  our  people  is  missing 
at  the  very  tune  we  need  all  our  material  and  moral  forces  hi  order 
to  build  up  our  life  again.  The  younger  part,  yea,  the  stronger  part 
of  our  nation,  the  flower  of  France,  has  died  away  on  the  battle-fields. 
Our  country  has  been  bereft  of  its  most  precious  resources. 

"Our  war  expenses,  on  the  other  side,  120,000,000,000  francs, 
are  weighing  heavily  on  our  shoulders.  To  pay  off  this  debt  there 
are  at  hand  only  such  limited  resources  as  invasion  has  left  us. 
The  territories  which  have  been  under  German  occupation  for 
four  years  were  the  wealthiest  part  of  France.  Their  area  did  not 
exceed  six  per  cent  of  the  whole  country.  They  paid,  however, 
twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  sum  total  of  our  taxes. 

"These  territories  which  have  been,  for  the  last  three  months, 
occupied  again  by  us  at  the  cost  of  our  own  blood  and  of  the  blood  of 
our  allies,  are  now  in  a  state  of  ruin  even  worse  than  we  had  antici- 
pated. Of  the  cities  and  villages  nothing  remains  but  ruins; 
350,000  homes  have  been  destroyed.  To  build  them  up  again — 
I  am  referring  to  the  building  proper,  without  the  furnishings — 
600  million  days'  of  work  will  be  necessary,  involving,  together  with 
building  material,  an  outlay  of  10,000,000,000  francs.  vAs  regards 
personal  property  of  every  description  either  destroyed  by  battle, 
or  stolen  by  the  Germans,  there  stands  an  additional  loss  of  at 
least  4,000,000,000  francs. 

"This  valuation  of  lost  personal  property  does  not  include — 
as  definite  figures  are  lacking  as  yet — the  countless  war  contributions 
and  fines  by  the  enemy,  amounting  also  to  billions.  I  need  hardly 
say  that,  in  those  wealthy  lands,  practically  no  agricultural  re- 
sources are  left. 

The  losses  hi  horses  and  in  cattle,  bovine  and  ovine  species, 
hogs,  goats,  amount  to  1,510,000  head — in  agricultural  equip- 
ment to  454,000  machines  or  carts — the  two  items  worth  together 
6,000,000,000  francs. 

"Now  as  regards  industries,  the  disaster  is  even  more  complete. 
These  districts  occupied  by  the  Germans  and  whose  machinery 
has  been  methodically  destroyed  or  taken  away  by  the  enemy, 
were,  industrially  speaking,  the  very  heart  of  France.  They  were 
the  very  backbone  of  our  production,  as  shown  in  the  following 
startling  figures: 

37 


666  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

"In  1913  the  wool  output  of  our  invaded  regions  amounted  to 
94  per  cent  of  the  total.  French  production  and  corresponding 
figures  were:  For  flax  from  the  spinning  mills,  90  per  cent;  iron  ore, 
90  per  cent;  pig  iron,  83  per  cent;  steel,  70  per  cent;  sugar,  70  per 
cent;  cotton,  60  per  cent;  coal  55  per  cent;  electric  power,  45  per 
cent.  Of  all  that,  plants,  machinery,  mines,  nothing  is  left.  Every- 
thing has  been  carried  away  or  destroyed  by  the  enemy.  So  com- 
plete is  the  destruction  that,  in  the  case  of  our  great  coal  mines  in 
the  north,  two  years  of  work  will  be  needed  before  a  single  ton  of 
coal  can  be  extracted  and  ten  years  before  the  output  is  brought 
back  to  the  figures  of  1913. 

"All  that  must  be  rebuilt,  and  to  carry  out  that  kind  of  recon- 
struction only,  there  will  be  a  need  of  over  2,000,000  tons  of  pig 
iron,  nearly  4,000,000  tons  of  steel — not  to  mention  the  replenishing 
of  stocks  and  of  raw  materials  which  must  of  necessity  be  supplied 
to  the  plants  during  the  first  year  of  resumed  activity.  If  we  take 
into  account  these  different  items  we  reach  as  regards  industrial 
needs  a  total  of  25,000,000,000  francs. 

"To  resurrect  these  regions,  to  reconstruct  these  factories, 
raw  materials  are  not  now  sufficient;  we  need  means  of  transporta- 
tion. Now  the  enemy  has  destroyed  our  railroad  tracks,  our  rail- 
road equipment,  and  our  rolling  stock,  which  in  the  first  month  of  the 
war,  hi  1914,  was  reduced  by  50,000  cars,  has  undergone  the  wear 
and  tear  of  fifty  months  of  war. 

"Our  merchant  fleet,  on  the  other  hand,  has  lost  more  than  a 
million  tons  through  submarine  warfare.  .1  Our  shipyards  during  the 
last  four  years  have  not  built  any  ships. :  For  they  have  produced 
for  us  and  for  our  allies  cannon,  ammunition,  and  tanks.  Here, 
again,  for  this  item  alone  of  means  of  transportation  we  must 
figure  on  an  expense  of  2,500,000,000  francs. 

"This  makes,  if  I  sum  up  these  different  items,  a  need  of  raw 
material  which  represents  in  cost,  at  the  present  rate  of  prices  in 
France,  not  less  than  50,000,000,000  francs. 

"And  this  formidable  figure,  gentlemen,  does  not  cover  every- 
thing. I  have  not  taken  into  account  the  loss  represented  for  the 
future  production  of  France  by  the  transformation  of  so  many 
factories  which  for  four  years  were  exclusively  devoted  to  war 
munitions.  I  have  not  taken  into  account  foreign  markets  lost  to 
us  as  a  result  of  the  destruction  of  one-fourth  of  our  productive 


PEACE  AT  LAST  667 

capital  and  the  almost  total  collapse  of  our  trade.  I  have  not  taken 
into  account  the  economic  weakening  that  we  will  suffer  tomorrow 
owing  to  that  loss,  to  which  I  referred  a  while  ago,  of  2,500,000 
young  and  vigorous  men." 

This  was  one  of  the  great  by-products  of  the  war.  Thousands 
of  young  Americans,  vigorous  evangels  of  democratic  thought, 
remained  in  Europe  to  bring  American  ideals  and  American  force 
into  the  affairs  of  the  old  world. 

Those  who  returned  were  formidable  factors  hi  re-shaping  the 
affairs  of  the  nation.  Grave  injustices  were  done  hi  some  instances 
to  young  men  who  had  volunteered  hi  the  early  days  of  the  war 
through  patriotic  motives  and  who  returned  to  find  their  places 
in  industry  taken  by  others.  In  the  main,  however,  the  process  of 
absorption  went  forward  steadily  and  without  serious  incident. 

One  factor  making  for  satisfactory  adjustment  was  the  insur- 
ance system  put  into  effect  by  the  United  States  Government, 
affecting  its  war  forces.  Immediately  following  the  armistice,  the 
folio  whig  announcement  was  made: 

Preparations  by  the  government  for  re-insuring  the  lives  of  soldiers 
and  sailors  on  their  return  have  been  hastened  by  the  signing  of  the 
armistice.  Although  regulations  have  not  yet  been  fully  drafted,  it  is 
certain  that  each  of  the  4,250,000  men  in  the  military  or  naval  service 
now  holding  voluntary  government  insurance  will  be  permitted  within 
five  years  after  peace  is  declared  to  convert  it  without  further  medical 
examination  into  ordinary  life,  twenty-pay  life,  endowment  maturing  at 
the  age  of  sixty-two,  or  other  prescribed  forms  of  insurance. 

This  insurance  will  be  arranged  by  the  government,  not  by  private 
companies,  and  the  cost  is  expected  to  be  at  least  one-fourth  less  than 
similar  forms  offered  by  private  agencies.  The  low  cost  will  result  from 
the  fact  that  the  government  will  pay  all  overhead  administration 
expenses,  which,  for  private  companies,  amount  to  about  seventeen  per 
cent  of  premium  receipts;  will  save  the  usual  solicitation  fees  and,  in 
addition,  bear  the  risk  resulting  from  the  wounding  or  weakening  of 
men  while  in  the  service.  Private  companies  would  not  write  insurance 
on  many  wounded  men,  or  their  rates  would  be  unusually  high. 

The  government  will  arrange  to  collect  premiums  monthly,  if  men 
wish  to  pay  that  way,  or  for  longer  periods  in  advance.  This  may  be 
done  through  post-offices.  The  minimum  amount  of  insurance  to  be 
issued  probably  will  be  $1,000,  and  the  maximum  $10,000,  with  any 
amount  between  those  sums  in  multiple  of  $500.  There  will  be  provision 
for  payments  in  case  of  disability  as  well  as  death,  according  to  the  tenta- 
tive plan. 


668  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Thus  will  be  created  out  of  the  government's  emergency  war  insur- 
ance bureau  the  greatest  life  insurance  institution  in  the  world  for  peace 
times,  with  more  policyholders  and  greater  aggregate  risks  than  a  half 
dozen  of  the  world's  biggest  private  companies  combined.  Out  of  the 
experience  gained  may  eventually  develop  expansion  of  government 
insurance  to  old  age,  industrial  and  other  forms  of  insurance,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  officials  who  have  studied  the  subject. 

Regulations  for  reinsuring  returning  soldiers  and  sailors  are  being 
framed  by  an  advisory  board  to  the  military  and  naval  section  of  the  war 
risk  bureau,  consisting  of  Arthur  Hunter,  actuary  of  the  New  York  Life 
Insurance  Company;  W.  A.  Fraser,  Omaha,  of  the  Woodmen  of  the  World, 
and  F.  Robertson  Jones,  of  the  Workmen's  Compensation  Publicity 
Bureau,  New  York. 

Plans  also  are  under  consideration  for  allowing  beneficiaries  of  men 
who  have  died  or  been  killed  in  the  service  to  choose  between  taking 
monthly  payments  over  a  period  of  twenty  years  or  to  commute  these 
payments  in  a  lump  sum. 


CHAPTER   LV 
AMERICA'S  POSITION  IN  WAR  AND  PEACE 

BY  common  consent  of  the  Entente  Allies,  President  Wilson 
was  made  the  spokesman  for  the  democracy  of  the  world. 
As  Lloyd  George,  Premier  Clemenceau  of  France,  Premier 
Orlando  of  Italy,  and  other  Europeans  recognized,  his 
utterances  most  clearly  and  cogently  expressed  the  principles  for 
which  civilization  was  battling  against  the  Hun.  More  than  that, 
these  statesmen  and  the  peoples  they  represented  recognized  that 
back  of  President  Wilson  were  the  high  ideals  of  an  America 
pledged  to  the  redemption  of  a  war-weary  world. 

The  war  produced  a  sterility  in  literature.  Out  of  the  great 
mass  that  was  written,  however,  two  productions  stood  out  hi 
their  nobility  of  thought  and  hi  their  classic  directness  of  expression. 
These  were  the  address  before  Congress  by  President  Wilson  on 
the  night  of  April  2,  1917,  when,  recognizing  fully  the  dread 
responsibility  of  his  action,  he  pronounced  the  words  which  led 
America  into  the  World  War,  and  the  speech  made  by  him  on 
Monday,  November  11,  1918,  when  addressing  Congress  he 
announced  the  end  of  the  war.  Other  declarations  of  the  Presi- 
dent that  will  be  treasured  as  long  as  democracy  survives,  are 
those  enunciating  the  fourteen  points  upon  which  America  would 
make  peace,  and  two  later  declarations  as  to  America's  purposes. 

His  address  of  April  2d  was  delivered  before  the  most 
distinguished  assemblage  ever  gathered  within  the  hall  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  headed  by  the  Chief  Justice,  every  member  of  the  embassies 
then  resident  in  Washington,  the  entire  membership  of  the  House 
and  Senate,  and  a  host  of  the  most  distinguished  men  and  women 
that  could  crowd  themselves  into  the  great  hall,  listened  to  what 
was  virtually  America's  Declaration  of  War. 

The  air  was  still  and  tragic  suspense  was  upon  every  face 
as  the  President  began  his  address.  At  first  he  was  pale  as  the 
marble  rostrum  against  which  he  leaned.  As  he  read  from  small 

669 


670  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

sheets  typewritten  with  his  own  hand,  his  voice  grew  firmer  and 
the  flush  of  indignation  and  of  resolution  overspread  his  counte- 
nance. He  said: 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

I  have  called  the  Congress  into  extraordinary  session  because  there 
are  serious,  very  serious,  choices  of  policy  to  be  made,  and  made  immedi- 
ately, which  it  was  neither  right  nor  constitutionally  permissible  that  I 
should  assume  the  responsibility  of  making. 

On  the  third  of  February  last  I  officially  laid  before  you  the  extraor- 
dinary announcement  of  the  Imperial  German  Government  that  on 
and  after  the  first  day  of  February  it  was  its  purpose  to  put  aside  all 
restraints  of  law  or  of  humanity  and  use  its  submarines  to  sink  every 
vessel  that  sought  to  approach  either  the  ports  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  on  the  western  coasts  of  Europe  or  any  of  the  ports  controlled 
by  the  enemies  of  Germany  within  the  Mediterranean.  That  had  seemed 
to  be  the  object  of  the  German  submarine  warfare  earlier  in  the  war, 
but  since  April  of  last  year  the  Imperial  Government  had  somewhat 
restrained  the  commanders  of  its  undersea  craft  in  conformity  with  its 
promise  then  given  to  us  that  passenger  boats  should  not  be  sunk  and 
that  due  warning  would  be  given  to  all  other  vessels  which  its  submarines 
might  seek  to  destroy,  when  no  resistance  was  offered  or  escape  attempted, 
and  care  taken  that  their  crews  were  given  at  least  a  fair  chance  to  save 
their  lives  in  their  open  boats.  The  precautions  taken  were  meager  and 
haphazard  enough,  as  was  proved  in  distressing  instance  after  instance 
in  the  progress  of  the  cruel  and  unmanly  business,  but  a  certain  degree  of 
restraint  was  observed.  The  new  policy  has  swept  every  restriction  aside. 
Vessels  of  every  kind,  whatever  their  flag,  their  character,  their  cargo, 
their  destination,  their  errand,  have  been  ruthlessly  sent  to  the  bottom 
without  warning  and  without  thought  of  help  or  mercy  for  those  on  board, 
the  vessels  of  friendly  neutrals  along  with  those  of  belligerents.  Even 
hospital  ships  and  ships  carrying  relief  to  the  sorely  bereaved  and  stricken 
people  of  Belgium,  though  the  latter  were  provided  with  safe  conduct 
through  the  proscribed  areas  by  the  German  Government  itself  and  were 
distinguished  by  unmistakable  marks  of  identity,  have  been  sunk  with 
the  same  reckless  lack  of  compassion  or  of  principle. 

I  was  for  a  little  while  unable  to  believe  that  such  things  would  in  fact 
be  done  by  any  government  that  had  hitherto  subscribed  to  the  humane 
practices  of  civilized  nations.  International  law  had  its  origin  in  the 
attempt  to  set  up  some  law  which  would  be  respected  and  observed  upon 
the  seas,  where  no  nation  had  right  of  dominion  and  where  lay  the  free 
highways  of  the  world.  By  painful  stage  after  stage  has  that  law  been 
built  up,  with  meager  enough  results,  indeed,  after  all  was  accomplished 
that  could  be  accomplished,  but  always  with  a  clear  view,  at  least,  of 
what  the  heart  and  conscience  of  mankind  demanded,  This  minimum  of 


AMERICA'S  POSITION  IN  WAR  AND  PEACE  671 

right  the  German  Government  has  swept  aside  under  the  plea  of  retalia- 
tion and  necessity  and  because  it  had  no  weapons  which  it  could  use  at 
sea  except  these  which  it  is  impossible  to  employ  as  it  is  employing  them 
without  throwing  to  the  winds  all  scruples  of  humanity  or  of  respect  for 
the  understandings  that  were  supposed  to  underlie  the  intercourse  of  the 
world.  I  am  not  now  thinking  of  the  loss  of  property  involved,  immense 
and  serious  as  that  is,  but  only  of  the  wanton  and  wholesale  destruction 
of  the  lives  of  noncombatants,  men,  women,  and  children,  engaged  in 
pursuits  which  have  always,  even  in  the  darkest  periods  of  modern  history, 
been  deemed  innocent  and  legitimate.  Property  can  be  paid  for;  the 
lives  of  peaceful  and  innocent  people  can  not  be.  The  present  German 
submarine  warfare  against  commerce  is  a  warfare  against  mankind. 

It  is  a  war  against  all  nations.  American  ships  have  been  sunk, 
American  lives  taken,  in  ways  which  it  has  stirred  us  very  deeply  to  learn 
of,  but  the  ships  and  people  of  other  neutral  and  friendly  nations  have 
been  sunk  and  overwhelmed  in  the  waters  in  the  same  way.  There  has 
been  no  discrimination.  The  challenge  is  to  all  mankind.  Each  nation 
must  decide  for  itself  how  it  will  meet  it.  The  choice  we  make  for  our- 
selves must  be  made  with  a  moderation  of  counsel  and  a  temperateness  of 
judgment  befitting  our  character  and  our  motives  as  a  nation.  We  must 
put  excited  feeling  away.  Our  motive  will  not  be  revenge  or  the  vic- 
torious assertion  of  the  physical  might  of  the  nation,  but  only  the  vindica- 
tion of  right,  of  human  right,  of  which  we  are  only  a  single  champion. 

When  I  addressed  the  Congress  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  February  last 
I  thought  that  it  would  suffice  to  assert  our  neutral  rights  with  arms,  our 
right  to  use  the  seas  against  unlawful  interference,  our  right  to  keep  our 
people  safe  against  unlawful  violence.  But  armed  neutrality,  it  now 
appears,  is  impracticable.  Because  submarines  are  in  effect  outlaws  when 
used  as  the  German  submarines  have  been  used  against  merchant  shipping, 
it  is  impossible  to  defend  ships  against  their  attacks  as  the  law  of  nations 
has  assumed  that  merchantmen  would  defend  themselves  against  privateers 
or  cruisers,  visible  craft  giving  chase  upon  the  open  sea.  It  is  common 
prudence  in  such  circumstances,  grim  necessity  indeed,  to  endeavor  to 
destroy  them  before  they  have  shown  their  own  intention.  They  must  be 
dealt  with  upon  sight,  if  dealt  with  at  all.  The  German  Government  denies 
the  right  of  neutrals  to  use  arms  at  all  within  the  areas  of  the  sea  which 
it  has  proscribed,  even  in  the  defense  of  rights  which  no  modern  publicist 
has  ever  before  questioned  their  right  to  defend.  The  intimation  is  con- 
veyed that  the  armed  guards  which  we  have  placed  on  our  merchant  ships 
will  be  treated  as  beyond  the  pale  of  law  and  subject  to  be  dealt  with  as 
pirates  would  be.  Armed  neutrality  is  ineffectual  enough  at  best;  in  such 
circumstances  and  in  the  face  of  such  pretensions  it  is  worse  than  ineffectual : 
it  is  likely  only  to  produce  what  it  was  meant  to  prevent;  it  is  practically 
certain  to  draw  us  into  the  war  without  either  the  rights  or  the  effectiveness 
of  belligerents.  There  is  one  choice  we  can  not  make,  we  are  incapable  of 
making:  we  will  not  choose  the  path  of  submission  and  suffer  the  most 


672  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD  WAR 

sacred  rights  of  our  nation  and  our  people  to  be  ignored  or  violated.  The 
wrongs  against  which  we  now  array  ourselves  are  no  common  wrongs; 
they  cut  to  the  very  roots  of  human  life. 

With  a  profound  sense  of  the  solemn  and  even  tragical  character  of 
the  step  I  am  taking  and  of  the  grave  responsibilities  which  it  involves,  but 
in  unhesitating  obedience  to  what  I  deem  my  constitutional  duty,  I  advise 
that  the  Congress  declare  the  recent  course  of  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment to  be  in  fact  nothing  less  than  war  against  the  government  and 
people  of  the  United  States;  that  it  formally  accept  the  status  of  bel- 
ligerent which  has  thus  been  thrust  upon  it;  and  that  it  take  immediate 
steps  not  only  to  put  the  country  in  a  more  thorough  state  of  defense  but 
also  to  exert  all  its  power  and  employ  all  its  resources  to  bring  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  German  Empire  to  terms  and  end  the  war. 

What  this  will  involve  is  clear.  It  will  involve  the  utmost  practicable 
co-operation  in  counsel  and  action  with  the  governments  now  at  war  with 
Germany,  and,  as  incident  to  that,  the  extension  to  those  governments  of 
the  most  liberal  financial  credits,  in  order  that  our  resources  may  so  far 
as  possible  be  added  to  theirs.  It  will  involve  the  organization  and  mobili- 
zation of  all  the  material  resources  of  the  country  to  supply  the  materials 
of  war  and  serve  the  incidental  needs  of  the  nation  in  the  most  abundant 
and  yet  the  most  economical  and  efficient  way  possible.  It  will  involve 
the  immediate  full  equipment  of  the  navy  in  all  respects  but  particularly 
in  supplying  it  with  the  best  means  of  dealing  with  the  enemy's  submarines. 
It  will  involve  the  immediate  addition  to  the  armed  forces  of  the  United 
States  already  provided  for  by  law  hi  case  of  war  at  least  five  hundred 
thousand  men,  who  should,  in  my  opinion,  be  chosen  upon  the  principle 
of  universal  liability  to  service,  and  also  the.  authorization  of  subsequent 
additional  increments  of  equal  force  so  sooif  as  they  may  be  needed  and 
can  be  handled  in  training.  It  will  involve  also,  of  course,  the  granting 
of  adequate  credits  to  the  Government,  sustained,  I  hope,  so  far  as  they 
can  equitably  be  sustained  by  the  present  generation,  by  well  conceived 
taxation. 

I  say  sustained  so  far  as  may  be  equitable  by  taxation  because  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  most  unwise  to  base  the  credits  which  will 
now  be  necessary  entirely  on  money  borrowed.  It  is  our  duty,  I  most 
respectfully  urge,  to  protect  our  people  so  far  as  we  may  against  the  very 
serious  hardships  and  evils  which  would  be  likely  to  arise  out  of  the  infla- 
tion which  would  be  produced  by  vast  loans. 

In  carrying  out  the  measures  by  which  these  things  are  to  be  accom- 
plished we  should  keep  constantly  in  mind  the  wisdom  of  interfering  as 
little  as  possible  hi  our  own  preparation  and  in  the  equipment  of  our  own 
military  forces  with  the  duty — for  it  will  be  a  very  practical  duty — of 
supplying  the  nations  already  at  war  with  Germany  with  the  materials 
which  they  can  obtain  only  from  us  or  by  our  assistance.  They  are  in  the 
field  and  we  should  help  them  in  every  way  to  be  effective  there. 

I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting,  through  the  several  executive 


International  Film  Service. 

SURRENDER  OF  THE  GERMAN  HIGH  SEAS  FLEET 

Actual  photograph  showing  the  greatest  naval  surrender  in  history — the  German 
fleet  arriving  to  surrender.  Below,  The  commanders  of  the  British  and  American  fleets, 
Admirals  Beatty  and  Rodman,  the  King  of  England  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  viewing 
the  surrender . 


AMERICA'S  POSITION  IN  WAR  AND  PEACE  675 

departments  of  the  Government,  for  the  consideration  of  your  committees, 
measures  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  several  objects  I  have  mentioned. 
I  hope  that  it  will  be  your  pleasure  to  deal  with  them  as  having  been 
framed  after  very  careful  thought  by  the  branch  of  the  Government  upon 
which  the  responsibility  of  conducting  the  war  and  safeguarding  the  nation 
will  most  directly  fall. 

While  we  do  these  things,  these  deeply  momentous  things,  let  us  be 
very  clear,  and  make  very  clear  to  all  the  world  what  our  motives  and  our 
objects  are.  My  own  thought  has  not  been  driven  from  its  habitual  and 
normal  course  by  the  unhappy  events  of  the  last  two  months,  and  I  do  not 
believe  that  the  thought  of  the  nation  has  been  altered  or  clouded  by  them. 
I  have  exactly  the  same  things  in  mind  now  that  I  had  in  mind  when  I 
addressed  the  Senate  on  the  22d  of  January  last;  the  same  that  I  had  in 
mind  when  I  addressed  the  Congress  on  the  3d  of  February  and  on  the 
26th  of  February.  Our  object  now,  as  then,  is  to  vindicate  the  principles 
of  peace  and  justice  in  the  life  of  the  world  as  against  selfish  and  auto- 
cratic power  and  to  set  up  amongst  the  really  free  and  self-governed 
peoples  of  the  world  such  a  concert  of  purpose  and  of  action  as  will  hence- 
forth ensure  the  observance  of  those  principles.  Neutrality  is  no  longer 
feasible  or  desirable  where  the  peace  of  the  world  is  involved  and  the 
freedom  of  its  peoples,  and  the  menace  to  that  peace  and  freedom  lies  in 
the  existence  of  autocratic  governments  backed  by  organized  force  which 
is  controlled  wholly  by  their  will,  not  by  the  will  of  their  people.  We 
have  seen  the  last  of  neutrality  hi  such  circumstances.  We  are  at  the 
beginning  of  an  age  in  which  it  will  be  insisted  that  the  same  standards  of 
conduct  and  of  responsibility  for  wrong  done  shall  be  observed  among 
nations  and  their  governments  that  are  observed  among  the  individual 
citizens  of  civilized  states. 

We  have  no  quarrel  with  the  German  people.  We  have  no  feeling 
towards  them  but  one  of  sympathy  and  friendship.  It  was  not  upon  their 
impulse  that  their  government  acted  in  entering  this  war.  It  was  not 
with  their  previous  knowledge  or  approval.  It  was  a  war  determined 
upon  as  wars  used  to  be  determined  upon  in  the  old,  unhappy  days  when 
peoples  were  nowhere  consulted  by  their  rulers  and  wars  were  provoked 
and  waged  in  the  interest  of  dynasties  or  of  little  groups  of  ambitious  men 
who  were  accustomed  to  use  their  fellow  men  as  pawns  and  tools.  Self- 
governed  nations  do  not  fill  their  neighbor  states  with  spies  or  set  the  course 
of  intrigue  to  bring  about  some  critical  posture  of  affairs  which  will  give 
them  an  opportunity  to  strike  and  make  conquest.  Such  designs  can  be 
successfully  worked  out  only  under  cover  and  where  no  one  has  the  right 
to  ask  questions.  Cunningly  contrived  plans  of  deception  or  aggression, 
carried,  it  may  be,  from  generation  to  generation,  can  be  worked  out  and 
kept  from  the  light  only  within  the  privacy  of  courts  or  behind  the  care- 
fully guarded  confidences  of  a  narrow  and  privileged  class.  They  are 
happily  impossible  where  public  opinion  commands  and  insists  upon  full 
information  concerning  all  the  nation's  affairs. 


676  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

A  steadfast  concert  for  peace  can  never  be  maintained  except  by  a 
partnership  of  democratic  nations.  No  autocratic  government  could  be 
trusted  to  keep  faith  within  it  or  observe  its  covenants.  It  must  be  a 
league  of  honor,  a  partnership  of  opinion.  Intrigue  would  eat  its  vitals 
away;  the  plottings  of  inner  circles  who  could  plan  what  they  would  and 
render  account  to  no  one  would  be  a  corruption  seated  at  its  very  heart. 
Only  free  peoples  can  hold  their  purpose  and  their  honor  steady  to  a 
common  end  and  prefer  the  interests  of  mankind  to  any  narrow  interest 
of  their  own. 

Does  not  every  American  feel  that  assurance  has  been  added  to  our 
hope  for  the  future  peace  of  the  world  by  the  wonderful  and  heartening 
things  that  have  been  happening  within  the  last  few  weeks  in  Russia? 
Russia  was  known  by  those  who  knew  it  best  to  have  been  always  in  fact 
democratic  at  heart,  in  all  the  vital  habits  of  her  thoughts,  in  all  the  inti- 
mate relationships  of  her  people  that  spoke  then*  natural  instinct,  their 
habitual  attitude  towards  life.  The  autocracy  that  crowned  the  summit 
of  her  political  structure,  long  as  it  had  stood  and  terrible  as  was  the  reality 
of  its  power,  was  not  in  fact  Russian  in  origin,  character,  or  purpose;  and 
now  it  has  been  shaken  off  and  the  great,  generous  Russian  people  have 
been  added  in  all  their  native  majesty  and  might  to  the  forces  that  are 
fighting  for  freedom  in  the  world,  for  justice,  and  for  peace.  Here  is  a  fit 
partner  for  a  League  of  Honor. 

One  of  the  things  that  has  served  to  convince  us  that  the  Prussian 
autocracy  was  not  and  could  never  be  our  friend  is  that  from  the  very 
outset  of  the  present  war  it  has  filled  our  unsuspecting  communities  and 
even  our  offices  of  government  with  spies  and  set  criminal  intrigues  every- 
where afoot  against  our  national  unity  of  counsel,  our  peace  within  and 
without,  our  industries  and  our  commerce.  Indeed  it  is  now  evident  that 
its  spies  were  here  even  before  the  war  began;  and  it  is  unhappily  not  a 
matter  of  conjecture  but  a  fact  proved  in  our  courts  of  justice  that  the 
intrigues  which  have  more  than  once  come  perilously  near  to  disturbing 
the  peace  and  dislocating  the  industries  of  the  country  have  been  carried 
on  at  the  instigation,  with  the  support,  and  even  under  the  personal  direc- 
tion of  official  agents  of  the  Imperial  Government  accredited  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States.  Even  in  checking  these  things  and  trying  to 
extirpate  them  we  have  sought  to  put  the  most  generous  interpretation 
possible  upon  them  because  we  knew  that  their  source  lay,  not  in  any 
hostile  feeling  or  purpose  of  the  German  people  towards  us  (who  were, 
no  doubt  as  ignorant  of  them  as  we  ourselves  were),  but  only  in  the  selfish 
designs  of  a  government  that  did  what  it  pleased  and  told  its  people  noth- 
ing. But  they  have  played  then*  part  in  serving  to  convince  us  at  last 
that  that  government  entertains  no  real  friendship  for  us  and  means  to 
act  against  our  peace  and  security  at  its  convenience.  That  it  means  to 
stir  up  enemies  against  us  at  our  very  doors  the  intercepted  note  to  the 
German  Minister  at  Mexico  City  is  eloquent  evidence. 

We  are  accepting  this  challenge  of  hostile  purpose  because  we  know 


AMERICA'S  POSITION  IN  WAR  AND  PEACE  677 

that  in  such  a  government,  following  such  methods,  we  can  never  have  a 
friend;  and  that  in  the  presence  of  its  organized  power,  always  lying  in 
wait  to  accomplish  we  know  not  what  purpose,  there  can  be  no  assured 
security  for  the  democratic  governments  of  the  world.  We  are  now  about 
to  accept  gauge  of  battle  with  this  natural  foe  to  liberty  and  shall,  if  neces- 
sary, spend  the  whole  force  of  the  nation  to  check  and  nullify  its  preten- 
sions and  its  power.  We  are  glad,  now  that  we  see  the  facts  with  no  veil 
of  false  pretense  about  them,  to  fight  thus  for  the  ultimate  peace  of  the 
world  and  for  the  liberation  of  its  peoples,  the  German  peoples  included: 
for  the  rights  of  nations  great  and  small  and  the  privilege  of  men  every- 
where to  choose  their  way  of  life  and  of  obedience.  The  world  must  be 
made  safe  for  democracy.  Its  peace  must  be  planted  upon  the  tested 
foundations  of  political  liberty.  We  have  no  selfish  ends  to  serve.  We 
desire  no  conquest,  no  dominion.  We  seek  no  indemnities  for  ourselves, 
no  material  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  we  shall  freely  make.  We  are 
but  one  of  the  champions  of  the  rights  of  mankind.  We  shall  be  satisfied 
when  those  rights  have  been  made  as  secure  as  the  faith  and  the  freedom 
of  nations  can  make  them. 

Just  because  we  fight  without  rancor  and  without  selfish  object,  seek- 
ing nothing  for  ourselves  but  what  we  shall  wish  to  share  with  all  free 
peoples,  we  shall,  I  feel  confident,  conduct  our  operations  as  belligerents 
without  passion,  and  ourselves  observe  with  proud  punctilio  the  principles 
of  right  and  of  fair  play  we  profess  to  be  fighting  for.  o 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  governments  allied  with  the  Imperial 
Government  of  Germany  because  they  have  not  made  war  upon  us  or 
challenged  us  to  defend  our  right  and  our  honor.  The  Austro-Hungarian 
Government  has,  indeed,  avowed  its  unqualified  endorsement  and  accep- 
tance of  the  reckless  and  lawless  submarine  warfare  adopted  now  without 
disguise  by  the  Imperial  German  Government,  and  it  has  therefore  not 
been  possible  for  this  government  to  receive  Count  Tarnowski,  the  Ambas- 
sador recently  accredited  to  this  government  by  the  Imperial  and  Royal 
Government  of  Austria-Hungary;  but  that  government  has 'not  actually 
engaged  in  warfare  against  citizens  of  the  United  States  on  the  seas,  and 
I  take  the  liberty,  for  the  present  at  least,  of  postponing  a  discussion  of 
our  relations  with  the  authorities  at  Vienna.  We  enter  this  war  only 
where  we  are  clearly  forced  into  it  because  there  are  no  other  means  of 
defending  our  rights. 

It  will  be  all  the  easier  for  us  to  conduct  ourselves  as  belligerents  in  a 
high  spirit  of  right  and  fairness  because  we  act  without  animus,  not  in 
enmity  towards  a  people  or  with  the  desire  to  bring  any  injury  or  dis- 
advantage upon  them,  but  only  in  armed  opposition  to  an  irresponsible 
government  which  has  thrown  aside  all  considerations  of  humanity  and  of 
right  and  is  running  amuck.  We  are,  let  me  say  again,  the  sincere  friends 
of  the  German  people,  and  shall  desire  nothing  so  much  as  the  early 
re-establishment  of  intimate  relations  of  mutual  advantage  between  us — 
however  hard  it  may  be  for  them,  for  the  time  being,  to  believe  that  this  is 


678  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

spoken  from  our  hearts.  We  have  borne  with  their  present  government 
through  all  these  bitter  months  because  of  that  friendship — exercising  a 
patience  and  forbearance  which  would  otherwise  have  been  impossible. 
We  shall,  happily,  still  have  an  opportunity  to  prove  that  friendship  in 
our  daily  attitude  and  actions  towards  the  millions  of  men  and  women  of 
German  birth  and  native  sympathy  who  live  amongst  us  and  share  our 
life,  and  we  shall  be  proud  to  prove  it  towards  all  who  are  in  fact  loyal  to 
their  neighbors  and  to  the  government  in  the  hour  of  test.  They  are, 
most  of  them,  as  true  and  loyal  Americans  as  if  they  had  never  known 
any  other  fealty  or  allegiance.  They  will  be  prompt  to  stand  with  us  in 
rebuking  and  restraining  the  few  who  may  be  of  a  different  mind  and  pur- 
pose. If  there  should  be  disloyalty,  it  will  be  dealt  with  with  a  firm  hand 
of  stern  repression;  but,  if  it  lifts  its  head  at  all,  it  will  lift  it  only  here  and 
there  and  without  countenance  except  from  a  lawless  and  malignant  few. 
It  is  a  distressing  and  oppressive  duty,  Gentlemen  of  the  Congress, 
which  I  have  performed  in  thus  addressing  you.  There  are,  it  may  be, 
many  months  of  fiery  trial  and  sacrifice  ahead  of  us.  It  is  a  fearful  thing 
to  lead  this  great  peaceful  people  into  war,  into  the  most  terrible  and  dis- 
astrous of  all  wars,  civilization  itself  seeming  to  be  in  the  balance.  But 
the  right  is  more  precious  than  peace,  and  we  shall  fight  for  the  things 
which  we  have  always  carried  nearest  our  hearts — for  democracy,  for  the 
right  of  those  who  submit  to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in  their  own  govern- 
ments, for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  small  nations,  for  a  universal  dominion 
of  right  by  such  a  concert  of  free  peoples  as  shall  bring  peace  and  safety 
to  all  nations  and  make  the  world  itself  at  last  free.  To  such  a  task  we  can 
dedicate  our  lives  and  our  fortunes,  everything  that  we  are  and  everything 
that  we  have,  with  the  pride  of  those  who  know  that  the  day  has  come 
when  America  is  privileged  to  spend  her  blood  and  her  might  for  the 
principles  that  gave  her  birth  and  happiness  and  the  peace  which  she  has 
treasured.  God  helping  her,  she  can  do  no  other. 

His  address  to  Congress  on  November  11,  1918,  while  all  the 
Allied  Nations  were  celebrating  with  exultant  hearts  the  victory 
that  had  come  to  'them,  was  no  less  dramatic  than  the  speech 
that  had  marked  the  beginning  of  the  war.  He  prefaced  it  by 
reading  the  drastic  terms  of  the  armistice  granted  to  Germany. 
Continuing  he  said : 

The  war  thus  comes  to  an  end;  for,  having  accepted  these  terms  of 
armistice,  it  will  be  impossible  for  the  German  command  to  renew  it. 

It  is  not  now  possible  to  assess  the  consequences  of  this  great  con- 
summation. We  know  only  that  this  tragical  war,  whose  consuming 
flames  swept  from  one  nation  to  another  until  all  the  world  was  on  fire, 
is  at  an  end  and  that  it  was  the  privilege  of  our  own  people  to  enter  it  at 
its  most  critical  juncture  in  such  fashion  and  in  such  force  as  to  contribute, 
in  a  way  of  which  we  are  all  deeply  proud,  to  the  great  result.  We  know, 


too,  that  the  object  of  the  war  is  attained;  the  object  upon  which  all 
free  men  had  set  their  hearts;  and  attained  with  a  sweeping  complete- 
ness which  even  now  we  do  not  realize.  Armed  imperialism  such  as  the 
men  conceived  who  were  but  yesterday  the  masters  of  Germany  is  at  an 
end,  its  illicit  ambitions  engulfed  in  black  disaster.  Who  will  now  seek 
to  revive  it? 

The  arbitrary  power  of  the  military  caste  of  Germany  which  once 
could  secretly  and  of  its  own  single  choice  disturb  the  peace  of  the  world 
is  discredited  and  destroyed.  And  more  than  that — much  more  than 
that — has  been  accomplished.  The  great  nations  which  associated  them- 
selves to  destroy  it  have  now  definitely  united  in  the  common  purpose 
to  set  up  such  a  peace  as  will  satisfy  the  longing  of  the  whole  world  for 
disinterested  justice,  embodied  in  settlements  which  are  based  upon  some- 
thing much  better  and  more  lasting  than  the  selfish  competitive  interests 
of  powerful  states.  There  is  no  longer  conjecture  as  to  the  objects  the 
victors  have  in  mind.  They  have  a  mind  in  the  matter,  not  only,  but  a 
heart  also.  Their  avowed  and  concerted  purpose  is  to  satisfy  and  protect 
the  weak  as  well  as  to  accord  their  just  rights  to  the  strong. 

The  humane  temper  and  intention  of  the  victorious  governments 
have  already  been  manifested  in  a  very  practical  way.  Their  representa- 
tives in  the  Supreme  War  Council  at  Versailles  have  by  unanimous  resolu- 
tion assured  the  peoples  of  the  Central  Empires  that  everything  that  is 
possible  in  the  circumstances  will  be  done  to  supply  them  with  food  and 
relieve  the  distressing  want  that  is  in  so  many  places  threatening  their 
very  lives;  and  steps  are  to  be  taken  immediately  to  organize  these  efforts 
at  relief  in  the  same  systematic  manner  that  they  were  organized  in  the 
case  of  Belgium.  By  the  use  of  the  idle  tonnage  of  the  Central  Empires 
it  ought  presently  to  be  possible  to  lift  the  fear  of  utter  misery  from  their 
oppressed  populations  and  set  their  minds  and  energies  free  for  the  great 
and  hazardous  tasks  of  political  reconstruction  which  now  face  them  on 
every  hand.  Hunger  does  not  breed  reform;  it  breeds  madness  and 
all  the  ugly  distempers  that  make  an  ordered  life  impossible. 

For  with  the  fall  of  the  ancient  governments,  which  rested  like  an 
incubus  on  the  peoples  of  the  Central  Empires,  has  come  political  change 
not  merely,  but  revolution;  and  revolution  which  seems  as  yet  to  assume 
no  final  and  ordered  form,  but  to  run  from  one  fluid  change  to  another, 
until  thoughtful  men  are  forced  to  ask  themselves,  with  what  govern- 
ments and  of  what  sort  are  we  about  to  deal  in  the  making  of  the  covenants 
of  peace?  With  what  authority  will  they  meet  us,  and  with  what  assur- 
ance that  their  authority  will  abide  and  sustain  securely  the  international 
arrangements  into  which  we  are  about  to  enter?  There  is  here  matter 
for  no  small  anxiety  and  misgiving.  When  peace  is  made,  upon  whose 
promises  and  engagements  besides  our  own  is  it  to  rest? 

Let  us  be  perfectly  frank  with  ourselves  and  admit  that  these  ques- 
tions cannot  be  satisfactorily  answered  now  or  at  once.  But  the  moral 
is  not  that  there  is  little  hope  of  an  early  answer  that  will  suffice.  It  is 


680  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

only  that  we  must  be  patient  and  helpful  and  mindful  above  all  of  the 
great  hope  and  confidence  that  lie  at  the  heart  of  what  is  taking  place. 
Excesses  accomplish  nothing.  Unhappy  Russia  has  furnished  abundant 
recent  proof  of  that.  Disorder  immediately  defeats  itself.  If  excesses 
should  occur,  if  disorder  should  for  a  time  raise  its  head,  a  sober  second 
thought  will  follow  and  a  day  of  constructive  action,  if  we  help  and  do 
not  hinder. 

The  present  and  all  that  it  holds  belongs  to  the  nations  and  the 
peoples  who  preserve  their  self-control  and  the  orderly  processes  of  their 
governments;  the  future  to  those  who  prove  themselves  the  true  friends 
of  mankind.  To  conquer  with  arms  is  to  make  only  a  temporary  con- 
quest; to  conquer  the  world  by  earning  its  esteem  is  to  make  permanent 
conquest.  I  am  confident  that  the  nations  that  have  learned  the  discipline 
of  freedom  and  that  have  settled  with  self-possession  to  its  ordered  practice 
are  now  about  to  make  conquest  of  the  world  by  the  sheer  power  of  example 
and  of  friendly  helpfulness. 

The  peoples  who  have  but  just  come  out  from  under  the  yoke  of 
arbitrary  government  and  who  are  now  coming  at  last  into  their  freedom 
will  never  find  the  treasures  of  liberty  they  are  in  search  of  if  they  look 
for  them  by  the  light  of  the  torch.  They  will  find  that  every  pathway 
that  is  stained  with  the  blood  of  their  own  brothers  leads  to  the  wilderness, 
not  to  the  seat  of  their  hope.  They  are  now  face  to  face  with  their  initial 
test.  We  must  hold  the  light  steady  until  they  find  themselves.  And 
in  the  meantime,  if  it  be  possible,  we  must  establish  a  peace  that  will 
justly  define  their  place  among  the  nations,  remove  all  fear  of  their  neigh- 
bors and  of  their  former  masters,  and  enable  them  to  live  in  security  and 
contentment  when  they  have  set  their  own  affairs  in  order.  I,  for  one,  do 
not  doubt  their  purpose  or  their  capacity.  There  are  some  happy  signs 
that  they  know  and  will  choose  the  way  of  self-control  and  peaceful  accom- 
modation. If  they  do,  we  shall  put  our  aid  at  their  disposal  in  every  way 
that  we  can.  If  they  do  not,  we  must  await  with  patience  and  sympathy 
the  awakening  and  recovery  that  will  assuredly  come  at  last. 

FOURTEEN   PRINCIPLES    OF   PEACE 

On  Tuesday,  January  8,  1918,  President  Wilson  placed  the 
peace  terms  of  the  United  States  Government  before  both  houses 
of  Congress,  in  joint  session.  The. fourteen  principles  were: 

1.  Open  covenants  of  peace,  openly  arrived  at,  after  which  there 
shall  be  no  private  international  understanding  of  any  kind,  but  diplomacy 
shall  proceed  always  frankly  and  in  the  public  view. 

2.  Absolute  freedom  of  navigation  upon  the  seas,  outside  territorial 
waters,  alike  in  peace  and  war,  except  as  the  seas  may  be  closed  in  whole 
or  in  part  by  international  action  for  the  enforcement  of  international 
covenants. 


AMERICA'S  POSITION  IN  WAR  AND  PEACE  681 

3.  The  removal,  so  far  as  possible,  of  all  economic  barriers  and  the 
establishment  of  an  equality  of  trade  conditions  among  all  the  nations 
consenting  to  the  peace  and  associating  themselves  for  its  maintenance. 

4.  Adequate  guarantees  given  and  taken  that  national  armaments 
will  be  reduced  to  the  lowest  point  consistent  with  domestic  safety. 

5.  A  free,  open-minded  and  absolutely  impartial  adjustment  of  all 
Colonial  claims  based  upon  a  strict  observance  of  the  principle  that  in 
determining  all  such  questions  of  sovereignty,  the  interests  of  the  popula- 
tions concerned  must  have  equal  weight  with  the  equitable  claims  of  the 
government  whose  title  is  to  be  determined. 

6.  The  evacuation  of  all  Russian  territory  and  such  a  settlement  of 
all  questions  affecting  Russia  as  will  secure  the  best  and  freest  co-operation 
of  the  other  nations  of  the  world  in  obtaining  for  her  an  unhampered  and 
unembarrassed  opportunity  for  the  independent  determination  of  her 
own  political  development  and  national  policy,  and  assure  her  of  a  sincere 
welcome  into  the  society  of  free  nations  under  institutions  of  her  own 
choosing;    and,  more  than  a  welcome,  assistance  also  of  every  kind  that 
she  may  need  and  may  herself  desire.     The  treatment  accorded  Russia 
by  her  sister  nations  in  the  months  to  come  will  be  the  acid  test  of  their 
good  will,  of  their  comprehension  of  her  needs,  as  distinguished  from  their 
own  interests,  and  of  their  intelligent  and  unselfish  sympathy. 

7.  Belgium,  the  whole  world  will  agree,  must  be  evacuated  and 
restored,  without  any  attempt  to  limit  the  sovereignty  which  she  enjoys 
in  common  with  all  other  free  nations.     No  other  single  act  will  serve 
as  this  will  serve  to  restore  confidence  among  the  nations  in  the  laws  which 
they  have  themselves  set  and  determined  for  the  government  of  their 
relations  with  one  another.     Without  this  healing  act  the  whole  structure 
and  validity  of  international  law  is  forever  impaired. 

8.  All  French  territory  should  be  freed  and  the  invaded  portions 
restored,  and  the  wrong  done  to  France  by  Prussia  in  1871,  in  the  matter 
of  Alsace-Lorraine,  which  has  unsettled  the  peace  of  the  world  for  nearly 
fifty  years,  should  be  righted,  in  order  that  peace  may  once  more  be  made 
secure  in  the  interests  of  all. 

9.  A  readjustment  of  the  frontiers  of  Italy  should  be  effected  along 
clearly  recognized  lines  of  nationality. 

10.  The  peoples  of  Austria-Hungary,  whose  place  among  the  nations 
we  wish  to  see  safeguarded  and  restored,  should  be  accorded  the  freest 
opportunity  of  autonomous  development. 

11.  Roumania,  Serbia  and  Montenegro  should  be  evacuated,  occupied 
territories  restored;    Serbia  accorded  free  and  secure  access  to  the  sea, 
and  the  relations  of  the  several  Balkan  States  to  one  another  determined 
by  friendly  counsel  along  historically  established  lines  of  allegiance  and 
nationality;    and  international  guarantees  of  the  political  and  economic 
independence  and  territorial  integrity,  of  the  several  Balkan  States,  should 
be  entered  into. 

12.  The  Turkish  portion  of  the  present  Ottoman  Empire  should  be 


682  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

assured  a  secure  sovereignty,  but  the  other  nationalities  which  are  now 
under  Turkish  rule,  should  be  assured  an  undoubted  security  of  life  and 
an  absolutely  unmolested  opportunity  of  autonomous  development,  and 
the  Dardanelles  should  be  permanently  opened  as  a  free  passage  to  the 
ships  and  commerce  of  all  nations  under  international  guarantees. 

13.  An  independent  Polish  State  should  be  erected  which  should 
include  the   territories   inhabited   by   indisputably   Polish   populations, 
which  should  be  assured  a  free  and  secure  access  to  the  sea,  and  whose 
political  and  economic  independence  and  territorial  integrity  should  be 
guaranteed  by  international  covenants. 

14.  General  association  of  nations  must  be  formed  under  specific 
covenants  for  the  purpose  of  affording  mutual  guarantees  of  political 
independence  and  territorial  integrity  to  great  and  small  states  alike. 

President  Wilson  in  his  address  to  Congress  on  February  11, 
1918,  presented  these  four  principles  which  are  to  be  applied  in 
arranging  world  peace: 

1.  That  each  part  of  the  final  settlement  must  be  based  upon  the 
essential  justice  of  that  particular  case  and  upon  such  adjustments,  as 
are  most  likely  to  bring  a  peace  that  will  be  permanent. 

2.  That  peoples  and  provinces  are  not  to  be  bartered  about  from 
sovereignty  to  sovereignty  as  if  they  were  mere  chattels  and  pawns  in  a 
game,  even  the  great  game  now  forever  discredited,  of  the  balance  of 
power;  but  that 

3.  Every  territorial  settlement  must  be  made  in  the  interest  and  for 
the  benefit  of  the  populations  concerned,  and  not  as  part  of  any  mere 
adjustment  or  compromise  of  claims  amongst  rival  states;  and, 

4.  That  all  well-defined  national  aspirations  shall  be  accorded  the 
utmost  satisfaction  that  can  be  accorded  them  without  introducing  new  or 
perpetuating  old  elements  of  discord  and  antagonism  that  would  be  likely 
in  time  to  break  the  peace  of  Europe  and  consequently  of  the  world. 

President  Wilson,  in  his  Liberty  Loan  address  in  New  York 
on  September  27th,  thus  stated  this  government's  interpretation  of 
its  duty -with  regard  to  peace: 

1.  The  impartial  justice  meted  out  must  involve  no  discrimination 
between  those  to  whom  we  wish  to  be  just  and  those  to  whom  we  do  not 
wish  to  be  just.     It  must  be  a  justice  that  plays  no  favorites  and  knows 
no  standard  but  the  equal  rights  of  the  several  peoples  concerned; 

2.  No  special  or  separate  interest  of  any  single  nation  or  any  group 
of  nations  can  be  made  the  basis  of  any  part  of  the  settlement  which  is 
not  consistent  with  the  common  interests  of  all; 

3.  There  can  be  no  leagues  or  alliances  or  special  covenants  and  under- 
standings within  the  general  and  common  family  of  the  League  of  Nations; 

4.  And  more  specifically,  there  can  be  no  special,  selfish  economic 


AMERICA'S  POSITION  IN  WAR  AND  PEACE  683 

combinations  within  the  league  and  no  employment  of  any  form  of  economic 
boycott  or  exclusion  except  as  the  power  of  economic  penalty  by  exclusion 
from  the  markets  of  the  world  may  be  vested  in  the  League  of  Nations 
itself  as  a  means  of  discipline  and  control. 

5.  All  international  agreements  and  treaties  of  every  kind  must  be 
made  known  in  their  entirety  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 


-  ' xyy^^^v ^° "^  ^    ''' * ^* tfA ^ R- 2 


THE  WAR  ZONE  ESTABLISHED  BY  GERMANY,   FEBRUARY,  1917,  THAT 
BROUGHT  AMERICA  INTO  THE  WAR. 


CHAPTER  LVI 
THE  WAR  BY  YEAHS 

GERMANY'S  military  strength   developed  during  forty 
years  of  preparation,   and  the  offensive  plans  of  the 
German  High  Command  developed  hi  connection  with 
an  extraordinary  spy  service  in  France,  Belgium,  Russia, 
England  and  the  United  States,   culminated  hi  a  simultaneous 
campaign  on  land  and  by  sea,  affecting  these  five  nations. 

AUGUST   1,    1914-AUGUST   1,    1915 

Belgium  and  Northern  France  were  overrun  by  a  German 
invading  force  under  General  von  Kluck.  The  heroic  effort  of  the 
French  army  under  General  Joffre  and  a  supreme  strategic  thrust  at 
the  German  center  by  General  Foch  turned  back  the  German  tide 
at  the  battle  of  the  Marne.  The  scientific  diabolism  of  the  German 
High  Command  was  revealed  when  poison  gas  was  projected  against 
the  Canadians  at  Ypres,  torturing,  blinding  and  killing  thousands. 

German  terrorism  on  the  high  seas  culminated  in  the  sinking 
of  the  Cunard  liner  Lusitania  by  a  German  submarine  off  the  Irish 
coast.  Men,  women  and  children  to  the  number  of  1,152  lost  their 
lives.  Of  these  102  were  Americans. 

German  colonies  in  South  Africa  were  invaded  by  British  South 
African  troops  under  General  Louis  Botha,  who  during  the  Boer 
War  commanded  a  division  against  the  British.  The  German 
holdings  at  Tsing-Tau  and  in  the  Marshall  Islands  were  seized  by 
Japan. 

German  cruisers  that  had  raided  sea-going  commerce  were 
destroyed.  The  most  noted  of  these  was  the  Emden,  which  was 
defeated  and  destroyed  by  the  Australian  cruiser  Sydney  off  the 
Cocos  Islands. 

German  sea  power  was  further  humiliated  in  a  running  fight 
off  Helgoland  hi  which  the  battle  cruiser  Blucher  was  sunk  and 
hi  a  battle  off  the  Falkland  Islands  in  which  three  German  cruisers 
were  destroyed. 

684 


THE  WAR  BY  YEARS  685 

Italy  entered  the  war  on  May  23,  1915,  and  invaded  Austria  on 
a  sixty-mile  front.  Russian  forces,  after  early  successes,  were 
defeated  at  Tannenburg  by  von  Hindenburg,  the  outstanding 
military  genius  on  the  German  side. 

The  development  of  aircraft  as  an  aid  to  artillery  and  as  a 
destructive  force  on  its  own  account,  was  rapid,  and  the  use  of 
machine  guns  and  hand  grenades  hi  trench  operations  became 
general. 

AUGUST   1,    1915-AUGUST    1,    1916 

The  tragic  sea  and  land  operations  at  the  Dardanelles  and 
Gallipoli  marked  this  year  with  red  hi  British  history.  Sir  Douglas 
Haig  succeeded  Sir  John  French  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  British 
forces  hi  France.  The  outstanding  operation  of  the  British  forces 
on  the  western  front  was  the  bloody  battle  of  the  Somme,  beginning 
July  1st,  and  continuing  until  the  fall  of  1915.  The  losses  on  both 
sides  in  that  titanic  struggle  staggered  two  continents.  Especially 
heroic  were  the  attacks  of  the  Canadians  hi  that  great  battle  and 
especially  heavy  were  the  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  of  the 
Canadian  regiments.  They  ranked  hi  magnitude  with  the  depletion 
that  came  to  the  Australian  and  New  Zealand  armies  hi  the  fatal 
Gallipoli  campaign. 

This  year  will  be  glorious  forever  in  the  annals  of  France 
because  of  the  heroic  defense  at  Verdun.  That  battle  tested  to  the 
limit  the  offensive  strength  of  the  German  machine  and  it  was 
found  lacking  in  power  to  pierce  the  superhuman  defense  of  the 
heroic  French  forces  under  Petain  and  Nivelle. 

Bulgaria  entered  the  war  on  October  14, 1915,  with  a  declaration 
of  war  against  helpless  Serbia.  Greece,  torn  by  internal  dissensions, 
inclined  first  to  one  side,  then  to  the  other.  The  occupation  of 
Saloniki  by  French  and  British  expeditionary  forces  finally  swung 
the  archipelago  to  the  Allies. 

A  British  Mesopotamian  force  under  General  Townshend, 
poorly  equipped  and  unsupported,  was  cut  off  hi  Kut-el-Amara,  and 
surrendered  to  the  Turks  on  April  29,  1916. 

The  Italian  forces  under  General  Cadorna  made  a  sensational 
advance  terminating  in  the  capture  of  Gorizia.  Portugal  entered 
the  war  on  the  side  of  the  Allies  after  it  had  refused  to  give  up  to 
Germany  several  German  ships  interned  in  Portuguese  ports. 


686  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

An  object  lesson  in  German  submarine  possibilities  was  given 
America  when  the  Deutschland,  a  super-submarine  cargo  vessel, 
arrived  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  on  July  9,  1916.  The  Deutschland 
later  was  converted  into  a  naval  submarine  and  re-visited  American 
shores,  sinking  a  number  of  merchant  vessels.  It  was  one  of  the 
German  submarine  fleet  surrendered  to  the  Allies  in  November,  1918. 

Russia  proved  itself  to  be  a  military  ineffective.  German 
armies  under  von  Mackensen  and  von  Hindenburg  occupied  Warsaw, 
Brest-Litovsk,  Lutsk,  and  Grodno.  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  was 
removed  from  the  command  of  the  Russian  armies  and  Czar 
Nicholas  assumed  command. 

Germany's  pretensions  to  sea  power  ended  with  the  battle  of 
Jutland,  May  31,  1916,  when  its  High  Seas  fleet  fled  after  a  running 
fight  with  British  cruisers  and  destroyers.  Never,  thereafter, 
during  the  war  did  the  German  ships  venture  out  of  the  Bight  of 
Helgoland. 

AUGUST   1,    1916-AUGUST   1,    1917 

This  year  was  marked  by  two  dramatic  episodes.  The  first 
of  these  was  the  sudden  entrance  and  the  equally  sudden  exit  of 
Roumania  as  a  factor  hi  the  World  War. 

The  second  was  the  appearance  of  the  United  States  which 
became  the  deciding  factor  in  the  war. 

Roumania  created  enthusiasm  hi  Allied  countries  when  it 
declared  war  on  Austria-Hungary  August  27th.  A  sudden  descent 
by  a  Roumanian  army  into  Transylvania  on  August  30th  was 
hailed  as  the  harbinger  of  further  successes.  These  hopes  were 
turned  to  ashes  when  von  Mackensen  headed  an  irresistible  German 
and  Austrian  rush  which  fairly  inundated  Roumania.  The  retreat 
from  Transylvania  by  the  Roumanians  was  turned  into  a  rout. 
Bulgarian  forces  invaded  the  Dobrudja  region  of  Roumania  and 
on  November  28th  the  seat  of  the  Roumanian^Government  was 
transferred  from  Bucharest,  the  capital,  to  Jassy  Roumania  ceased 
to  be  a  factor  hi  the  war  on  December  6th,  when  Bucharest  fell  to 
von  Mackensen.  Emperor  Franz  Josef  of  Austria-Hungary  died 
on  November  22d,  while  Austrian  hopes  were  at  their  highest. 

America's  appearance  as  a  belligerent  was  forecast  on  January 
31,  1917,  when  Germany  announced  its  intention  of  sinking  all 
vessels  in  a  blockade  zone  around  the  British  Isles.  Count 


THE  WAR  BY  YEARS  687 

von  Bernstorff  was  handed  his  passports  on  February  3d,  and 
on  April  2d  President  Wilson,  in  a  remarkable  address  to  Con- 
gress, advised  a  declaration  of  war  by  the  United  States  against 
Germany.  This  was  consummated  by  a  formal  vote  of  Congress 
declaring  war  on  April  6th. 

This  action  by  America  was  followed  by  the  organization  of  a 
Council  of  National  Defense.  Under  this  body  the  resources  of  the 
nation  were  mobilized.  The  council  was  later  virtually  abandoned 
as  an  organizing  factor,  its  functions  going  to  the  War  Industries 
Board,  presided  over  by  Bernard  Baruch;  the  Fuel  Administration, 
under  Dr.  Harry  A.  Garfield;  the  War  Trade  Board,  with  Vance  C. 
McCormick  at  its  head;  and  other  governmental  bodies.  George 
Creel  headed  the  Committee  on  Public  Information. 

Conscription  was  decided  upon  as  the  foundation  of  America's 
war-making  policy,  and  the  training  of  officers  and  privates  in  great 
training  camps  was  commenced.  Great  shipping  and  aircraft 
programs  were  formulated  and  the  nation  as  a  whole  was  placed 
upon  a  war  footing. 

The  Russian  revolution  beginning  hi  bread  riots  in  Petrograd, 
spread  throughout  that  country,  with  the  result  that  Russia  dis- 
appeared as  one  of  the  Entente  Allies. 

FROM   AUGUST   1,    1917-NOVEMBER   11,    1918 

America's  might  and  efficiency  were  revealed  in  the  speed 
and  thoroughness  with  which  her  military,  naval  and  civilian 
resources  were  mobilized  and  thrown  into  the  conflict.  Under  the 
supervision  of  the  Chief  of  Staff,  two  million  American  soldiers 
received  the  final  touches  in  their  military  training  and  were  trans- 
ported safely  overseas.  They  became  the  decisive  factor  in  the 
war  during  the  summer  and  fall  of  1918.  To  their  glory  be  it 
recorded  they  never  retreated.  Chateau-Thierry,  St.  Mihiel, 
Siecheprey,  Boureches  Wood,  Cantigny,  Belleau  Wood,  the 
Argonne,  Sedan  and  Stenay  are  names  that  will  rank  in  Ameri- 
can history  with  Yorktown,  New  Orleans  and  Gettysburg.  The 
"land  of  dollars"  became  over  night  the  "land  of  high  ideals"  to 
the  civilized  world.  Lightless  nights  in  cities,  restriction  of  the 
use  of  gasoline  on  Sundays  and  daylight-saving  legislation  linked 
civilians  to  soldiers  in  war  effort. 

Italy  suffered  a  severe  reverse  beginning  October  24,  1917, 


688  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

when  the  German  forces  rushed  through  a  portion  of  the  Italian 
army  that  had  been  honey-combed  with  pro-German  Socialistic 
propaganda. 

Canada  again  emblazoned  its  name  in  history  through  the 
heroic  capture  of  Passchendaele  on  November  6,  1917. 

The  Russian  revolution  turned  to  the  Bolsheviki  when  Lenine 
and  Trotsky  at  the  head  of  the  Reds  seized  Petrograd  on  November 
7th  and  deposed  Alexander  Kerensky,  leader  of  the  Moderate 
Socialists.  The  Czar  Nicholas  was  executed  by  the  victorious 
Bolsheviki  and  the  Imperial  family  made  captives. 

The  British  Mesopotamian  forces  advanced  into  Palestine  and 
Mesopotamia,  destroying  the  Turkish  army  under  Ahmed  Bey  hi  a 
battle  terminating  September  29,  1917.  General  Stanley  Maude, 
the  leader  of  the  expedition,  died  in  Mesopotamia  November  18, 
1917. 

General  Allenby  commanding  British  and  Arabian  forces, 
routed  and  destroyed  three  Turkish  armies  in  Palestine,  capturing 
Jerusalem  which  had  been  held  by  the  Turks  for  six  hundred  and 
seventy  three  years. 

The  turning  point  of  the  war  came  on  March  29,  1918,  when 
General  Foch  was  chosen  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the  Allied 
forces.  This  followed  Germany's  great  drive  on  a  fifty-mile  front 
from  Arras  to  La  Fere.  Successive  German  thrusts  were  halted 
by  the  Allied  forces  now  strongly  reinforced  by  Americans. 

Foch,  patiently  biding  his  time,  elected  to  halt  the  German 
drive  with  Americans.  The  Marines  of  the  United  States  forces 
were  given  the  post  of  honor,  and  at  Chateau-Thierry  the  counter- 
thrust  of  Foch  was  commenced  by  a  complete  defeat  of  the  Prussian 
Guard  and  other  crack  German  regiments,  by  the  untried  soldiers 
of  America. 

From  Chateau-Thierry  to  the  armistice  which  went  into 
effect  at  eleven  o'clock  on  November  llth  was  only  a  short  span 
of  time,  but  hi  it  was  compressed  the  humiliation  of  arrogant 
Teutonic  imperialism,  the  destruction  of  militaristic  autocracy, 
and  the  liberation  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  LVII 
BEHIND  AMERICA'S  BATTLE  LINE 

GENERAL  MARCH'S  OWN  STORY  OP  THE  WORK  OP  THE  MILITARY 

INTELLIGENCE  DIVISION OF  THE  WAR  PLANS  DIVISION — OP  THE 

PURCHASE  AND  TRAFFIC  DIVISION — HOW  MEN,  MUNITIONS  AND 
SUPPLIES  REACHED  THE  WESTERN  FRONT. 

IT  IS  important  that  a  general  summary  of  America's  military 
preparations,  a  detailed  description  of  the  operations  behind 
the  battle  line  and  a  detailed  chronology  of  America's  principal 
military  operations  in  France  during  the  year   1918    should 
be  presented  to  the  reader.     Such  a  summary  is  afforded  by  the 
report  of  General  Peyton  C.  March,  Chief  of  Staff,  United  States 
Army,  for  the  last  year  of  the  war.     Addressing  the  Secretary  of 
War,  General  March  wrote  in  part: 

The  signing  of  the  armistice  on  November  11,  1918,  has  brought  to  a 
successful  conclusion  the  most  remarkable  achievement  in  the  history  of 
all  warfare. 

The  entry  of  the  United  States  into  the  war  on  April  6,  1917,  found 
the  Nation  about  as  thoroughly  unprepared  for  the  great  task  which 
was  confronting  it  as  any  great  nation  which  had  ever  engaged  in  war. 
Starting  from  a  minimum  of  organized  strength,  within  this  short  period 
of  sixteen  months  the  entire  resources  of  the  country  in  men,  money,  and 
munitions  have  been  placed  under  central  control,  and  at  the  end  of  this 
period  the  Nation  was  in  its  full  stride  and  had  accomplished,  from  a 
military  standpoint,  what  our  enemy  regarded  as  the  impossible.  The 
most  important  single  thing,  perhaps,  in  this  record  of  accomplishment, 
was  the  immediate  passage  by  Congress  of  the  draft  law,  without  which 
it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  raised  the  men  necessary  for  victory. 
In  organizing,  training,  and  supplying  the  vast  numbers  of  men  made 
available  by  the  draft  law  very  many  changes  have  been  made  necessary 
in  the  organization  of  the  War  Department  and  in  the  methods  existing 
therein  which  were  inherited  from  the  times  of  profound  peace. 

Shortly  after  my  installation  as  Chief  of  Staff  I  adopted  the  principle 
of  interchange  of  the  personnel  of  the  various  staff  corps  of  the  War 
Department  with  men  who  had  training  in  France,  and  in  the  application 
of  this  principle  placed  as  the  heads  of  various  bureaus  officers  selected  on 

689 


690  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

account  of  their  ability  and  experience  in  the  system  of  warfare  as  conducted 
in  France. 

At  this  time,  also,  I  found  that  the  divisions  organized  in  our  armies 
were  still  regarded  as  separate  units,  designated  by  different  titles  in 
accordance  with  their  origin.  This  made  three  different  kinds  of  divisions 
in  the  United  States  army— the  Regular  army,  the  National  Guard,  and 
National  army  divisions.  All  these  distinctions  were  abolished  and  the 
entire  army  consolidated  into  a  United  States  army,  without  regard  to  the 
source  from  which  drawn.  The  source  of  supply  of  all  replacements  for 
the  various  elements  of  the  army,  without  regard  to  their  origin,  was 
drafted  men;  and  the  titles  had  no  significance  whatever  and  were  a 
source  of  possible  disturbance  from  the  standpoint  of  military  efficiency. 
There  was,  in  fact,  no  actual  difference  between  these  divisions  with 
respect  to  efficiency — all  have  done  high-grade  work  from  whatever 
source  drawn.  All  have  shown  courage  and  capacity  for  quick  absorption 
of  the  fundamentals  of  modern  military  training  and  irresistible  dash 
and  force  in  actual  fighting.  .  .  . 

When  I  returned  from  France  on  March  1,  1918,  I  came  back  with  the 
belief  that  the  most  fundamental  necessity,  both  for  the  American  Expedi- 
tionary Force  and  for  the  success  of  the  allies,  was  that  the  shipment  of 
troops  to  France  should  be  vastly  increased  and  should  have  priority 
over  everything  else;  and  as  this  policy  became  effective  a  study  was 
instituted  looking  to  our  putting  in  France,  if  that  was  possible,  enough 
men  to  bring  the  war  to  a  conclusion  in  the  shortest  period  possible.  After 
a  study  of  the  entire  situation,  including  as  accurate  an  estimate  of  the 
potential  strength  of  our  allies  on  the  western  front  and  of  the  probable 
German  strength  as  was  possible,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  war 
might  be  .brought  to  an  end  in  1919,  provided  we  were  able  to  land  in 
France  by  June  30th  of  that  year  eighty  American  divisions  of  a  strength 
of  3,360,000  men.  On  July  18, 1918, 1  submitted  to  you  a  formal  memoran- 
dum, accompanied  by  a  study  of  methods  by  which  the  men  could  be 
obtained,  the  supplies  procured,  and  an  analysis  of  the  shipping  which 
must  be  obtained  in  order  to  accomplish  this  very  large  military  program. 
This  was  accompanied  by  an  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  proposed  program. 

In  this  study  I  recommended  to  you  the  adoption,  as  the  American 
program,  of  eighty  divisions  in  France  and  eighteen  at  home  by  June  30, 
1919,  based  on  a  total  strength  of  the  American  army  of  4,850,000  men. 
This  was  approved  by  you  and  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  adopted  as  our  formal  military  program.  To  carry  this  program 
into  effect  required  the  adoption  by  Congress  of  a  change  in  the  draft 
ages  so  as  to  include  men  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five 
years,  and  also  created  a  deficiency  over  the  enormous  appropriations 
already  made  by  Congress  of  some  $7,000,000,000.  The  presentation  of 
the  program  to  Congress,  accompanied  by  the  statement  that  this  increase 
in  the  army,  if  laws  were  passed  by  Congress  which  would  make  it  effective, 
would  lead  to  success  in  1919,  produced  prompt  and  favorable  considera- 


Photo  by  International  Film  Senict. 


THE   SALVATION  ARMY   ON   THE    WESTERN  FRONT 
A  shell-proof  dugout  used  as  a  rest  room  for  soldiers. 


©  Press  Illustrating  Service. 

THE  Y.   M.    C.   A.   IN   THE  FRONT  LINE   TRENCHES 


The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  sign  beside  the  trench  points  the  way  to  a  d  of 

Irfan^etmous1!1  ^  *****  fOUnd  the  ™™*Oris  which  -ad^S'sig^oTthe 


BEHIND  AMERICA'S  BATTLE  LINE          693 

tion  by  that  body.  Up  to  the  signing  of  the  armistice  troops  were  being 
transported  to  France  monthly  in  accordance  with  that  program.  The 
results  speak  for  themselves.  .  .  . 

During  the  year,  the  most  important  in  the  history  of  the  country 
both  from  a  military  and  civil  standpoint,  there  have  been  four  heads 
of  the  General  Staff:  Major-General  Hugh  L.  Scott,  from  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  until  his  retirement,  September  22,  1917;  General  Tasker  H. 
Bliss,  from  that  date  until  May  19,  1918;  Major-General  John  Biddle, 
Acting  Chief  of  Staff  at  periods  during  the  absence  of  General  Bliss  in 
France,  from  October  29,  1917,  to  December  16,  1917,  and  from  January 
9,  1918,  to  March  3,  1918.  I  assumed  the  duties  of  Acting  Chief  of  Staff 
on  March  4,  1918,  became  Chief  of  Staff  May  20,  1918,  and  have  con- 
tinued on  that  duty  since. 

It  was  evident,  as  the  war  progressed,  that  the  General  Staff  was 
acting  under  an  organization  and  in  accordance  with  regulations  which 
were  not  only  unsuited  to  the  duties  and  responsibilities  confronting  it, 
but  were  wholly  out  of  date  and  were  not  suited  to  any  General  Staff 
organization.  Successive  revisions  of  the  orders  under  which  the  General 
Staff  was  acting  were  made  as  events  demanded,  until  the  experience  of 
the  year  crystallized  the  organization  of  the  General  Staff  into  that  set 
forth  in  General  Order  No.  80  of  the  War  Department.  This  order 
divides  the  work  of  the  General  Staff  into  four  primary  divisions:  1.  Opera- 
tions; 2.  Purchase,  Storage,  and  Traffic;  3.  Military  Intelligence;  4.  War 
Plans.  Each  of  these  divisions  is  under  the  direction  of  a  director,  who 
is  Assistant  Chief  of  Staff  and  is  a  general  officer. 

OPERATIONS   DIVISION 

The  Operations  Division  is  under  the  charge  of  Major-General  Henry 
Jervey,  United  States  army,  as  Director  of  Operations  and  Assistant 
Chief  of  Staff.  This  division  is  a  consolidation  of  the  former  Operations 
Committee  and  Equipment  Committee,  which  pertained  to  the  War 
College  under  the  previous  organization.  The  Operations  Division  has 
had  charge  of  the  increase  in  the  personnel  of  the  army  during  the  year. 
On  June  30,  1917,  the  Regular  army  consisted  of  250,357  officers  and 
enlisted  men.  On  August  5,  1917,  379,323  officers  and  men  of  the  National 
Guard  were  drafted  into  the  Federal  service.  There  were  a  few  special 
drafts  of  small  numbers  of  National  Guardsmen  into  the  Federal  service 
after  August  5,  1917.  During  the  period  covered  by  this  report  this 
division  handled  the  calls  into  service  of  men  obtained  under  the  draft, 
the  organization  of  these  men  into  divisions  and  units  necessary  for  the 
army,  and  turned  over  for  shipment  overseas  up  to  November  8,  1918, 
2,047,667  men.  The  grand  total  of  men  in  the  army  from  returns  for  the 
period  ending  October  15th  is  3,624,774.  This  force  was  organized  into 
divisions,  the  proper  proportion  of  corps,  army,  and  service  of  supply 
troops,  and  of  replacement  camps  and  training  centers  for  Infantry,  Field 
Artillery,  and  Machine  Guns  in  the  United  States.  Central  officers' 


694  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

training  schools  were  organized  at  each  of  the  replacement  camps. 
Replacement  camps  and  training  centers  for  the  various  staff  depart- 
ments were  also  organized.  Development  battalions  were  organized  at 
all  division  camps  and  large  posts  and  camps  for  the  purpose  of  developing 
men  of  poor  physique  and  the  instruction  of  illiterates  and  non-English- 
speaking  men  of  the  draft.  During  the  fiscal  year  5,377,468  officers  and 
men  were  moved  by  railroad  to  and  from  the  camps. 

The  Operations  Division  has  during  the  year  also  handled  all  matters 
connected  with  the  adoption  of  new  types  of  equipment,  fixing  allowances 
for  various  units,  the  preparation  of  tables  of  equipment  for  them,  and 
the  distribution  and  issue  of  equipment,  and  the  determination  of  priorities 
of  such  issue. 

It  has  supervised  and  studied  the  needs  of  camps  and  construction 
work  therein,  and  this  work  in  general  has  been  characterized  by  marked 
ability  and  devotion  to  duty. 

PURCHASE,   STORAGE  AND   TRAFFIC   DIVISION 

The  Division  of  Purchase,  Storage  and  Traffic  is  under  the  charge  of 
Major-General  George  W.  Goethals,  United  States  army,  as  Assistant 
Chief  of  Staff  and  Director  of  Purchase,  Storage  and  Traffic.  This 
division  was  organized  by  merging  divisions  previously  created,  and 
which  had  been  called  "Storage  and  Traffic"  and  "Purchase  and  Supply." 
The  new  division  thus  organized  was  subdivided  into  Embarkation  Service, 
Storage,  Inland  Traffic  Service,  and  Purchase  and  Supply  Branch. 

Embarkation. — At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  Quartermaster's 
Department  had  charge  of  the  transportation  of  troops  and  supplies  and 
continued  to  exercise  these  functions  until  August  4,  1917,  when  they 
were  transferred  to  a  separate  division  of  the  General  Staff,  specially 
created  for  the  purpose,  and  designated  as  the  Embarkation  Service. 
As  already  noted,  this  was  subsequently  merged  with  the  Storage  and 
Traffic  Division. 

Two  primary  ports  of  embarkation  were  established,  one  with  head- 
quarters at  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  and  the  other  at  Newport  News,  Va.,  each 
under  the  command  of  a  general  officer. 

The  Quartermaster's  Department  was  operating  a  service  to  Panama 
from  New  York,  but  with  the  shipment  of  troops  to  France  a  new  condition 
arose  which  was  met  only  in  part  by  taking  over  the  Hoboken  piers, 
formerly  owned  by  the  Hamburg-American  and  North  German  Lloyd 
steamship  companies,  and  the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking  necessitated 
additional  facilities.  The  situation  at  New  York  is  complicated  by  the  large 
amount  of  general  shipping  using  the  port,  the  diversified  interests,  even 
those  of  the  government,  and  the  complicated  jurisdiction.  An  effort  was 
made  to  bring  about  such  a  consolidation  and  unification  as  to  secure 
greater  co-operation  with  increased  efficiency.  To  this  end  the  War 
Board  for  the  Port  of  New  York  was  established  in  November,  1917. 
It  was  vested  with  full  power  and  authority  to  make  rules  and  regulations 


BEHIND  AMERICA'S  BATTLE  LINE          695 

for  operating  the  facilities  of  the  port,  to  determine  priorities,  and  to  do 
what  was  necessary  to  provide  for  the  prompt  and  economical  dispatch  of 
the  business  of  the  government  in  and  about  the  port.  Mr.  Irving  T. 
Bush  was  selected  as  the  board's  representative,  with  the  title  of  chief 
executive  officer.  In  addition  to  representing  the  board  he  was  to  arrange 
for  the  co-operative  use  of  piers,  warehouses,  lighterage,  terminals,  rail- 
roads, trucking,  and  all  other  transportation  facilities  in  and  about  the  port. 

In  addition  the  need  was  felt  for  having  a  shipping  expert  closely 
associated  with  the  Embarkation  Service,  familiar  with  the  facilities  at 
various  ports,  so  that  he  could  properly  assign  ships,  select  ships  for  the 
cargo  to  be  moved,  and  arrange  for  their  loading.  Mr.  Joseph  T.  Lilly 
was  selected  for  this  work  and  appointed  director  of  embarkation. 

In  February,  1918,  the  available  cargo  ships  were  not  sufficient  to 
carry  the  supplies  needed  for  maintaining  the  troops  overseas.  To  secure 
the  requisite  additional  tonnage  necessitated  taking  ships  from  the  existing 
trade  routes  and  determining  from  what  imports  and  exports  they  could 
best  be  spared  without  interference  with  those  which  were  absolutely 
necessary.  This  brought  about  a  new  situation  which  could  be  handled 
only  by  those  having  a  knowledge  of  the  trades  as  well  as  the  characteristics 
of  various  ships  serving  them,  since  some  of  them  were  suitable  for  War 
Department  needs  and  some  were  not.  It  had  happened  that  an  advanta- 
geous exchange  of  ships  could  have  been  made  with  the  Allies  by  which 
valuable  time  could  have  been  saved  in  getting  over  cargo,  but  there  was 
lack  of  knowledge  as  well  as  lack  of  authority.  The  whole  situation  was 
gone  over  at  a  conference  between  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  chairman 
of  the  Shipping  Board,  as  a  result  of  which  the  Shipping  Control  Com- 
mittee was  created,  consisting  of  Mr.  P.  A.  S.  Franklin,  chairman;  Mr. 
H.  H.  Raymond;  and  Sir  Connop  Guthrie,  representative  of  the  Allies' 
shipping  interests.  The  allocation  and  distribution  of  available  tonnage, 
as  well  as  questions  of  exchange  of  ships,  was  vested  in  this  committee. 
So  far  as  the  work  of  the  War  Department  was  concerned  the  committee 
was  charged  with  the  loading  and  unloading  cargo,  coaling,  supplies, 
repairs,  and,  except  where  vessels  are  commanded  by  the  navy,  of 
inspection  and  manning.  They  also  have  charge  of  the  management  and 
operation  of  docks,  piers,  slips,  loading  and  discharging  facilities  under 
the  control  of  the  department,  or  of  any  board,  officers,  or  agency  operating 
such  facilities,  together  with  the  direction  and  management  of  minor 
craft  to  be  used  in  connection  with  the  handling  of  steamers  and  their 
cargoes  in  port.  The  amount  of  cargo  shipped  overseas,  the  efficiency  of 
the  loading,  and  the  reduction  of  the  time  of  stay  in  the  ports  attest  to  the 
efficient  manner  in  which  the  committee  has  operated,  and  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  they  are  to  be  largely  credited  with  the  results  that 
have  been  accomplished.  .  .  . 

Expeditionary  depots  were  operated  at  Boston,  Mass.;  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  and  Baltimore,  Md.,  primarily  for  the  movement  of  freight.  When 
cargo  ships  having  accommodations  for  troops  were  loaded  at  these  ports 


696  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

troops  for  the  available  space  were  sent  from  the  camps  under  the  direction 
of  the  commanding  general  at  Hoboken;  similarly  shipments  of  troops 
were  made  from  Montreal,  Canada,  and  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  when 
practicable.  Cargo  shipments  were  also  made  from  other  ports  on  the 
Atlantic  and  Gulf  coasts. 

On  May  25,  1918,  the  water  transport  branch  of  the  Quartermaster's 
Department  was  transferred  and  made  a  part  of  the  Embarkation 
Service. 

In  April  conditions  abroad  necessitated  the  speeding  up  shipments 
of  troops,  and  brought  to  the  service  such  transports  as  the  British  Govern- 
ment could  spare  for  the  purpose,  which  have  been  continued  in  use. 
The  army  transports  are  officered  and  manned  by  the  navy,  as  is  the 
greater  number  of  the  cargo  ships.  The  arrangements  for  transferring 
ships  to  naval  control  as  well  as  for  convoys  for  troop  and  cargo  ships  are 
handled  through  the  Chief  of  Operations  of  the  navy,  who  has  given  every 
assistance.  The  way  in  which  the  work  has  been  handled  by  the  navy  is 
shown  by  the  loss  of  no  troop  ships  which  were  under  their  protection  on 
the  eastbound  trips.  .  .  . 

Inland  Traffic. — The  inland  traffic  service  was  established  on  Jan- 
uary 10,  1918.  As  the  government  had  taken  over  all  of  the  railroads, 
the  necessity  for  working  in  harmony  with  the  organization  that  was 
placed  in  charge  was  apparent,  and  the  Railroad  Administration  was 
requested  to  recommend  a  competent  traffic  man  to  handle  the  work. 
This  resulted  in  the  selection  and  assignment  of  Mr.  H.  M.  Adams  as 
chief  of  the  section.  He  in  turn  secured  his  expert  assistants  through  the 
Railroad  Administration. 

At  the  time  the  section  was  formed  approximately  15,000  carloads 
of  War  Department  property  held  in  cars  were  congesting  various 
Atlantic  ports.  Steps  were  taken  which  relieved  this  condition  and 
brought  about  an  orderly  movement  of  the  traffic  when  and  in  the  quantities 
desired.  The  value  of  the  inland  traffic  service  was  soon  demonstrated 
and  led  to  a  reorganization,  with  authority  to  take  over  the  transportation 
organizations  of  the  various  bureaus  of  the  War  Department,  both  at 
Washington  and  throughout  the  country,  so  that  as  now  organized  the 
chief  of  the  inland  traffic  service  exercises  direct  control  of  the  transporta- 
tion of  troops,  of  the  supplies  of  and  for  the  various  bureaus  of  the  War 
Department,  and  for  the  contractors  working  for  the  several  bureaus.  This 
control  extends  over  the  entire  country  through  the  medium  of  representa- 
tives stationed  at  various  traffic  centers. 

Working  in  conjunction  with  the  Railroad  Administration  has  resulted 
hi  minimizing  the  burdens  of  the  carriers.  The  work  has  been  performed 
most  efficiently.  More  than  5,000,000  troops  have  been  moved  from  their 
homes,  from  one  camp  to  another,  and  from  camps  to  the  points  of  embarka- 
tion within  the  period  covered  by  this  report. 

Arrangements  have  been  made  by  which  this  branch  will  take  charge 
of  all  express  movements  for  the  War  Department,  as  well  as  the  tracing 


BEHIND  AMERICA'S  BATTLE  LINE          697 

of  the  movements  of  all  War  Department  property,  including  the  con- 
tractors and  others  for  the  various  bureaus. 

Purchase  arid  Supply. — The  Purchase  and  Supply  Branch  is  organized 
into  the  following  subsections:  Supply  Program,  Purchase,  Production, 
Finance,  and  Emergency. 

MILITARY  INTELLIGENCE  DIVISION 

The  Military  Intelligence  Division  has  as  director  Brigadier-General 
Marlborough  Churchill,  United  States  army,  Assistant  Chief  of  Staff. 
This  division,  which  had  been  a  branch,  first  of  the  War  Plans  Division 
and  then  of  the  Executive  Division  of  the  General  Staff,  was  separated 
completely  and  made  an  independent  division  by  general  orders  which 
reorganized  the  General  Staff,  thus  putting  the  Military  Intelligence 
Division  on  a  par  with  similar  services  of  general  staffs  of  other  nations 
of  the  world. 

The  duties  of  the  Military  Intelligence  Division  consist,  in  general, 
in  the  organization  of  the  intelligence  service,  positive  and  negative, 
including  the  collection  and  coordination  of  military  information;  the 
supervision  of  the  department  intelligence  officers  and  intelligence  officers 
at  posts,  stations,  camps,  and  with  commands  in  the  field,  in  matters 
relating  to  military  intelligence;  the  direction  of  counter-espionage  work; 
the  preparation  of  instruction  in  military  intelligence  work  for  the  use  of 
our  forces;  the  consideration  of  questions  of  policy  promulgated  by  the 
General  Staff  in  all  matters  of  military  intelligence;  the  co-operation  with 
intelligence  branches  of  the  general  staffs  of  other  countries;  the  super- 
vision of  the  training  of  officers  for  intelligence  duty,  the  obtaining  and 
issuing  of  maps:  and  the  disbursement  of  and  accounting  for  intelligence 
funds. 

One  of  the  important  functions  of  the  Director  of  the  Military 
Intelligence  Division  is  that  of  coordinating  the  work  of  this  service 
with  other  intelligence  agencies.  Possible  duplications  of  work  and 
investigation  by  the  State  Department,  Treasury  Department,  Depart- 
ment of  Justice,  Navy  Department,  War  Trade  Board,  and  the  War 
Department  are  avoided  or  adjusted  at  weekly  conferences  held  at  the 
Department  of  Justice  and  attended  by  representatives  of  these  depart- 
ments who  consider  matters  of  common  interest.  For  a  similar  purpose, 
the  Director  of  Military  Intelligence  is  a  member  of  the  Fire  Prevention 
Committee,  the  War  Industries  Board,  and  the  National  Research  Council. 

For  the  purpose  of  securing  close  co-operation  between  the  military 
intelligence  services  of  the  nations  associated  in  the  war,  the  British  and 
French  Governments  were  requested  by  the  United  States  to  send  officers 
to  this  country  for  liaison  duty.  These  officers  have  been  of  great  assistance 
in  accomplishing  this  end,  because  of  their  knowledge  of  the  details  of 
intelligence  work  in  Europe. 

For  the  performance  of  the  service  for  which  the  Military  Intelligence 
Division  was  developed,  eight  sections  have  been  established,  each  deal- 


698  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

ing  with  its  peculiar  problems,  and  working  in  close  liaison  with  its 
fellows.     .     .    . 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  call  attention  to  the  enthusiastic  co-operation 
which  this  division  has  consistently  received  from  the  various  other 
intelligence  agencies,  civilian  and  others.  The  American  Protective 
League,  the  Department  of  Justice,  the  Office  of  Naval  Intelligence, 
the  Customs,  the  War  Trade  Intelligence  have  all  co-operated  in  the 
heartiest  manner  with  each  and  every  effort  of  the  Military  Intelligence 
Division.  Indeed,  it  is  hardly  saying  too  much  to  state  that  the  success 
of  the  Military  Intelligence  Division  has  in  a  very  large  measure  been  due 
to  the  loyal  assistance  which  it  has  received  at  all  times  from  the  various 
agencies  whose  functions  are  similar  to  its  own. 

WAR  PLANS  DIVISION 

The  War  Plans  Division  of  the  General  Staff  is  under  the  direction  of 
Brigadier-General  Lytle  Brown,  as  Director  and  Assistant  Chief  of  Staff. 
A  very  large  volume  of  work  has  been  accomplished  by  this  division 
during  the  year.  Exclusive  of  subjects  pertaining  to  the  historical  branch, 
the  inventions  section,  and  routine  matters,  9,287  cases  were  handled  by  the 
division  during  the  year. 

These  included  Studies  as  to  policies  for  defense  and  the  organization 
of  the  military  forces  in  general  as  published  in  Tables  of  Organization, 
completed  studies  on  the  policy  and  plans  for  training  the  army  in  general, 
training  replacement  troops,  training  cadres,  training  centers,  training 
schools,  schools  for  senior  and  staff  officers,  and  plans  for  physical  recon- 
struction and  vocational  training  of  wounded  soldiers. 

In  addition,  through  the  Training  Section,  the  War  Plans  Division 
has  supervision  of  training  in  general  and  has  kept  in  touch  by  inspections 
by  its  officers  with  methods  used  and  progress  made. 

The  Legislative,  Regulations,  and  Rules  Branch  of  the  War  Plans 
Division  has  handled  numerous  changes  in  Army  Regulations  and  War 
Department  orders  made  necessary  by  the  present  emergency,  and  has 
considered  bills  before  Congress  pertaining  to  the  army. 

The  Historical  Branch  of  the  General  Staff  was  organized  March  5, 
1918,  to  collect  and  compile  the  records  pertaining  to  the  war  under  the 
approved  policy,  and  satisfactory  progress  is  being  made.  To  June  30, 
1918,  67,022  photographs  and  2,590  feet  of  motion-picture  film  had  been 
received. 

The  Inventions  Section  was  organized  April  16,  1918.  This  section 
has  taken  over  from  the  different  agencies  of  the  government  the  pre- 
liminary consideration  of  inventions  and  ideas  of  inventions  of  a  military 
nature,  with  a  view  to  placing  before  the  proper  bureaus  of  the  War 
Department  those  having  sufficient  military  value  to  warrant  test  and 
development  at  the  expense  of  the  government.  From  April  16,  1918, 
to  June  30,  1918,  4,645  cases  were  handled,  a  number  of  which  were  of 
exceptional  merit  and  have  already  been  put  to  use.  .  .  . 


BEHIND  AMERICA'S  BATTLE  LINE          699 

The  Chief  of  Staff  has  as  his  principal  assistant  Major-General  Frank 
Mclntyre,  United  States  army,  who  acts  as  executive  officer  for  the 
General  Staff  and  also  for  the  Chief  of  Staff  in  his  absence. 

Beside  the  General  Staff  divisions  which  have  been  referred  to  in  the 
foregoing,  there  has  been  established  in  the  General  Staff  a  Morale  Section, 
under  charge  of  Brigadier-General  E.  L.  Munson,  United  States  army, 
which  has  for  its  object  primarily  the  stimulation  of  morale  throughout  the 
army,  and  maintaining  a  close  connection  and  liaison  with  similar  activities 
in  civil  life.  This  section  had  only  gotten  fairly  into  operation  before  the 
signing  of  the  armistice,  but  had  already  shown  its  value  as  a  military  asset. 

Another  important  addition  to  the  organization  of  the  General  Staff 
has  been  the  establishment  of  a  Personnel  Section,  under  charge  of 
Brigadier-General  P.  P.  Bishop,  United  States  army.  In  this  section  has 
been  consolidated  the  handling  of  appointments,  promotions,  and  com- 
missions of  the  entire  official  personnel  of  the  United  States  army.  This 
section  has  proved  to  be  of  the  greatest  value  and  has  come  to  stay.  .  .  . 

The  signing  of  the  armistice  has  interrupted  the  conclusion  of  the 
organization  now  under  way  for  the  consolidation  of  Procurement  and 
Storage  under  the  Director  of  Purchase,  Storage,  and  Traffic,  but  the 
principle  is  sound  from  the  standpoint  of  organization  and  extremely 
economical  in  its  results.  .  .  . 

The  supply  of  officers  for  the  very  large  military  program  has  been 
throughout  one  of  the  most  important  problems  which  confronted  the 
General  Staff.  I  have  alreadv  indicated  in  the  statement  of  the  functions 
of  the  Operations  Division  of  the  General  Staff  the  organization  of  central 
training  camps  for  officers  throughout  the  United  States.  When,  however, 
we  embarked  upon  the  final  program  of  placing  eighty  divisions  in  France 
and  eighteen  at  home  by  June  30,  1919,  which  involved  an  army  of  approx- 
imately 4,800,000,  the  problem  of  the  supply  of  officers  became  so  serious 
that  an  understanding  was  obtained  with  the  great  mass  of  educational 
institutions  throughout  the  United  States,  resulting  in  the  development  of 
the  Student  Army  Training  Corps.  This  scheme  absorbed  for  military 
purposes  the  academic  plants  of  some  518  colleges  and  universities  through- 
out the  country,  and  for  vocational  training  in  the  army  embraced  some 
eighty  more.  This  corps  was  put  under  the  charge  of  Brigadier-General 
Robert  I.  Rees,  United  States  army,  and  in  its  development  we  have  had 
the  energetic  co-operation  of  college  presidents  and  responsible  college 
authorities  throughout  the  entire  United  States.  At  the  same  time,  in 
order  to  increase  the  supply  of  officers,  the  course  at  West  Point  was  cut 
down  to  one  year's  intensive  training,  with  the  idea  of  placing  at  the 
disposal  of  the  government  1,000  officers  a  year  graduated  from  that 
extremely  efficient  plant  rather  than  the  graduation  of  about  200,  which 
had  been  the  case  previously  throughout  the  war. 

The  separation  of  the  Air  Service  from  the  Signal  Corps,  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Overman  bill,  and  the  establishment  of  a  Bureau  of 
Military  Aeronautics,  under  Major-General  William  L.  Kenly,  United 


700  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

States  army,  and  of  a  Bureau  of  Aircraft  Production,  under  Mr.  John  D. 
Ryan,  marked  an  extremely  important  step  forward  in  the  development 
of  this  portion  of  the  Military  Establishment.  The  armistice  closes  out 
this  matter  with  the  two  branches  of  the  Air  Service  in  a  state  of  marked 
efficiency  and  establishes  unquestionably  the  necessity  for  the  permanent 
separation  of  the  Air  Service  from  the  Signal  Corps  in  the  reorganization 
of  the  army. 

During  this  period  another  new  agency  created  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment by  Executive  order  was  the  office  of  the  Chief  of  Field  Artillery. 
This  office  has  been  filled  by  Major-General  William  J.  Snow,  United 
States  army.  This  establishment  was  accompanied  by  the  creation  in  the 
American  Expeditionary  Force  in  France  of  the  office  of  Chief  of  Artillery 
on  General  Pershing's  staff,  having  similar  relation  to  all  the  artillery  of  the 
Expeditionary  Force  which  the  Chief  of  Field  Artillery  has  toward  the 
mobile  artillery  at  home.  The  work  of  this  office  has  been  accompanied 
by  a  marked  increase  in  the  efficiency  of  the  training  system  in  the  various 
Field  Artillery  camps,  and  the  office  itself  has  proved  to  be  of  distinct  value. 

I  have  directed  the  divisions  of  the  General  Staff  concerned  to  study 
and  submit  for  your  consideration  a  plan  for  the  reorganization  of  our 
army,  which  will  take  advantage  of  our  experience  in  this  war,  which 
has  brought  about  many  changes  in  organization  of  all  arms  of  the  service, 
and  has  developed  new  arms  not  known  when  the  war  started.  The 
Air  Service,  the  Tank  Corps,  the  development  of  heavy  mobile  artillery, 
the  proper  organization  of  divisions,  corps,  and  armies,  all  will  be  set  forth 
in  the  scheme  which  will  be  submitted  to  you  with  the  recommendation 
that  it  be  transmitted  for  the  consideration  of  Congress.  .  .  . 

The  conduct  of  the  American  troops  in  France,  their  progressive 
development  in  military  experience  and  ability,  the  fine  staff  work,  and 
the  modesty  and  gallantry  of  the  individual  soldier  is  a  matter  of  pride  to 
all  Americans.  General  Pershing  and  his  command  have  earned  the 
thanks  of  the  American  people. 

The  work  of  General  Tasker  H.  Bliss  as  military  representative  of  the 
War  Department  with  the  American  Section  of  the  Supreme  War  Council 
at  Versailles  has  been  of  the  greatest  value  to  the  War  Department. 

I  cannot  close  this  report  without  making  of  record  the  appreciation  of 
the  War  Department  of  the  work  of  the  many  trained  and  patriotic  officers 
of  the  army  whom  the  destiny  of  war  did  not  call  to  France.  These  officers, 
forced  to  remain  behind  in  the  United  States  by  the  imperative  necessity 
of  having  trained  men  to  keep  the  machine  moving,  have  kept  up  their 
work  with  such  intelligence,  zeal,  and  devotion  to  duty  as  to  show  a  high 
order  of  patriotism.  The  officers  and  men  who  have  not  been  able  on 
account  of  the  armistice  to  be  transported  to  France  deserve  also,  with 
their  comrades  in  France,  the  thanks  of  the  American  people. 


CHAPTER  LVII1 
GENERAL  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY* 

IMMEDIATELY  upon  receiving  my  orders  I  selected  a  small 
staff  and  proceeded  to  Europe  in  order  to  become  familiar  with 
conditions  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 

The  warmth  of  our  reception  in  England  and  France  was 
only  equaled  by  the  readiness  of  the  commanders-in-chief  of  the 
veteran  armies  of  the  Allies  and  their  staffs  to  place  their  experience 
at  our  disposal.  In  consultation  with  them  the  most  effective 
means  of  co-operation  of  effort  was  considered.  With  French  and 
British  armies  at  their  maximum  strength,  and  all  efforts  to  dis- 
possess the  enemy  from  his  firmly  intrenched  positions  hi  Belgium 
and  France  failed,  it  was  necessary  to  plan  for  an  American  force 
adequate  to  turn  the  scale  in  favor  of  the  Allies.  Taking  account  of 
the  strength  of  the  central  powers  at  that  tune,  the  immensity  of 
the  problem  which  confronted  us  could  hardly  be  overestimated. 
The  first  requisite  being  an  organization  that  could  give  intelligent 
direction  to  effort,  the  formation  of  a  General  Staff  occupied  my 
early  attention. 

GENERAL   STAFF 

A  well-organized  General  Staff  through  which  the  commander 
exercises  his  functions  is  essential  to  a  successful  modern  army. 
However  capable  our  division,  our  battalion,  and  our  companies 
as  such,  success  would  be  impossible  without  thoroughly  coordi- 
nated endeavor.  A  General  Staff  broadly  organized  and  trained 
for  war  had  not  hitherto  existed  in  our  army.  Under  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief,  this  staff  must  carry  out  the  policy  and  direct 
the  details  of  administration,  supply,  preparation,  and  operations 
of  the  army  as  a  whole,  with  all  special  branches  and  bureaus 
subject  to  its  control.  As  models  to  aid  us  we  had  the  veteran 
French  General  Staff  and  the  experience  of  the  British  who  had 
similarly  formed  an  organization  to  meet  the  demands  of  a  great 

*From  General  Pershing's  official  report  to  the  Secretary  at  War,  November  20,  1918. 

701 


702  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

army.  By  selecting  from  each  the  features  best  adapted  to  our 
basic  organization,  and  fortified  by  our  own  early  experience  in  the 
war,  the  development  of  our  great  General  Staff  system  was 
completed. 

The  General  Staff  is  naturally  divided  into  five  groups,  each 
with  its  chief  who  is  an  assistant  to  the  Chief  of  the  General 
Staff.  G.  1  is  in  charge  of  organization  and  equipment  of  troops, 
replacements,  tonnage,  priority  of  overseas  shipment,  the  auxil- 
iary welfare  association  and  cognate  subjects;  G.  2  has  censor- 
ship, enemy  intelligence,  gathering  and  disseminating  information, 
preparation  of  maps,  and  all  similar  subjects;  G.  3  is  charged  with 
all  strategic  studies  and  plans,  movement  of  troops,  and  the  super- 
vision of  combat  operations;  G.  4  coordinates  important  questions 
of  supply,  construction,  transport  arrangements  for  combat,  and 
of  the  operations  of  the  service  of  supply,  and  of  hospitalization 
and  the  evacuation  of  the  sick  and  wounded;  G.  5  supervises  the 
various  schools  and  has  general  direction  and  coordination  of 
education  and  training. 

The  first  Chief  of  Staff  was  Col.  (now  Maj.-Gen.)  James  G. 
Harbord,  who  was  succeeded  hi  March,  1918,  by  Maj.-Gen.  James 
W.  McAndrew.  To  these  officers,  to  the  deputy  chief  of  staff, 
and  to  the  assistant  chiefs  of  staff,  who,  as  heads  of  sections,  aided 
them,  great  credit  is  due  for  the  results  obtained  not  only  in  perfect- 
ing the  General  Staff  organization  but  in  applying  correct  principles 
to  the  multiplicity  of  problems  that  have  arisen. 

ORGANIZATION   AND   TRAINING 

After  a  thorough  consideration  of  allied  organizations  it  was 
decided  that  our  combat  division  should  consist  of  four  regiments 
of  infantry  of  3,000  men,  with  three  battalions  to  regiment  and 
four  companies  of  250  men  each  to  a  battalion,  and  of  an  artillery 
brigade  of  three  regiments,  a  machine-gun  battalion,  an  engineer 
regiment,  a  trench-mortar  battery,  a  signal  battalion,  wagon  trams, 
and  the  headquarters  staffs  and  military  police.  These,  with 
medical  and  other  units,  made  a  total  of  over  28,000  men,  or 
practically  double  the  size  of  a  French  or  German  division.  Each 
corps  would  normally  consist  of  six  divisions — four  combat  and  one 
depot  and  one  replacement  division — and  also  two  regiments  of 
cavalry,  and  each  army  of  from  three  to  five  corps.  With  four  divi- 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY         703 

sions  fully  trained,  a  corps  could  take  over  an  American  sector 
with  two  divisions  in  line  and  two  in  reserve,  with  the  depot  and 
replacement  divisions  prepared  to  fill  the  gaps  in  the  ranks. 

Our  purpose  was  to  prepare  an  integral  American  force,  which 
should  be  able  to  take  the  offensive  hi  every  respect.  Accord- 
ingly, the  development  of  a  self-reliant  infantry  by  thorough  drill 
hi  the  use  of  the  rifle  and  in  the  tactics  of  open  warfare  was  always 
uppermost.  The  plan  of  training  after  arrival  in  France  allowed 
a  division  one  month  for  acclimatization  and  instruction  in  small 
units  from  battalions  down,  a  second  month  in  quiet  trench  sectors 
by  battalion,  and  a  third  month  after  it  came  out  of  the  trenches 
when  it  should  be  trained  as  a  complete  division  in  war  of  move- 
ment. .  .  . 

ARTILLERY,  AIRPLANES,  AND  TANKS 

Our  entry  into  the  war  found  us  with  few  of  the  auxiliaries 
necessary  for  its  conduct  in  the  modern  sense.  Among  our  most 
important  deficiencies  in  material  were  artillery,  aviation,  and 
tanks.  In  order  to  meet  our  requirements  as  rapidly  as  possible, 
we  accepted  the  offer  of  the  French  Government  to  provide  us 
with  the  necessary  artillery  equipment  of  seventy-fives,  one  fifty- 
five  millimeter  howitzers,  and  one  fifty-five  G  P  F  guns  from  their 
own  factories  for  thirty  divisions.  The  wisdom  of  this  course  is 
fully  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that,  although  we  soon  began  the 
manufacture  of  these  classes  of  guns  at  home,  there  were  no  guns 
of  the  calibers  mentioned  manufactured  in  America  on  our  front 
at  the  date  the  armistice  was  signed.  The  only  guns  of  these 
types  produced  at  home  thus  far  received  in  France  are  109  seventy- 
five  millimeter  guns. 

In  aviation  we  were  in  the  same  situation,  and  here  again  the 
French  Government  came  to  our  aid  until  our  own  aviation  program 
should  be  under  way.  We  obtained  from  the  French  the  necessary 
planes  for  training  our  personnel,  and  they  have  provided  us  with 
a  total  of  2,676  pursuit,  observation,  and  bombing  planes.  The 
first  airplanes  received  from  home  arrived  in  May,  and  altogether 
we  have  received  1,379.  The  first  American  squadron  completely 
equipped  by  American  production,  including  airplanes,  crossed  the 
German  lines  on  August  7,  1918.  As  to  tanks,  we  were  also  com- 
pelled to  rely  upon  the  French.  Here,  however,  we  were  less  fortu- 


704  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

nate,  for  the  reason  that  the  French  production  could  barely  meet 
the  requirements  of  their  own  armies. 

It  should  be  fully  realized  that  the  French  Government  has 
always  taken  a  most  liberal  attitude  and  has  been  most  anxious  to 
give  us  every  possible  assistance  in  meeting  our  deficiencies  in  these 
as  well  as  in  other  respects.  Our  dependence  upon  France  for 
artillery,  aviation,  and  tanks  was,  of  course,  due  to  the  fact  that 
our  industries  had  not  been  exclusively  devoted  to  military  pro- 
duction. All.  credit  is  due  our  own  manufacturers  for  their  efforts 
to  meet  our  requirements,  as  at  the  time  the  armistic  was  signed 
we  were  able  to  look  forward  to  the  early  supply  of  practically  all 
our  necessities  from  our  own  factories. 

The  welfare  of  the  troops  touches  my  responsibility,  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  to  the  mothers  and  fathers  and  kindred  of  the 
men  who  came  to  France  in  the  impressionable  period  of  youth. 
They  could  not  have  the  privilege  accorded  European  soldiers 
during  their  periods  of  leave  of  visiting  their  families  and  renewing 
their  home  ties.  Fully  realizing  that  the  standard  of  conduct  that 
should  be  established  for  them  must  have  a  permanent  influence 
in  their  lives  and  on  the  character  of  their  future  citizenship,  the 
Red  Cross,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Knights  of 
Columbus,  the  Salvation  Army,  and  the  Jewish  Welfare  Board, 
as  auxiliaries  in  this  work,  were  encouraged  in  every  possible  way. 
The  fact  that  our  soldiers,  in  a  land  of  different  customs  and 
language,  have  borne  themselves  in  a  manner  in  keeping  with  the 
cause  for  which  they  fought,  is  due  not  only  to  the  efforts  in  their 
behalf  but  much  more  to  other  high  ideals,  their  discipline,  and 
their  innate  sense  of  self-respect.  It  should  be  recorded,  however, 
that  the  members  of  these  welfare  societies  have  been  untiring  in 
their  desire  to  be  of  real  service  to  our  officers  and  men.  The 
patriotic  devotion  of  these  representative  men  and  women  has 
given  a  new  significance  to  the  Golden  Rule,  and  we  owe  to  them  a 
debt  of  gratitude  that  can  never  be  repaid. 

COMBAT   OPERATIONS 

During  our  periods  of  training  in  the  trenches  some  of  our 
divisions  had  engaged  the  enemy  in  local  combats,  the  most  impor- 
tant of  which  was  Seicheprey  by  the  Twenty-sixth  on  April  20th,  in 
the  Toul  sector,  but  none  had  participated  in  action  as  a  unit. 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S   OWN  STORY         705 

The  First  Division,  which  had  passed  through  the  preliminary 
stages  of  training,  had  gone  to  the  trenches  for  its  first  period  of 
instruction  at  the  end  of  October  and  by  March  21st,  when  the 
German  offensive  in  Picardy  began,  we  had  four  divisions  with 
experience  in  the  trenches,  all  of  which  were  equal  to  any  demands 
of  battle  action.  The  crisis  which  this  offensive  developed  was 
such  that  our  occupation  of  an  American  sector  must  be  postponed. 

On  March  28th  I  placed  at  the  disposal  of  Marshal  Foch, 
who  had  been  agreed  upon  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Allied 
armies,  all  of  our  forces  to  be  used  as  he  might  decide.  At  his 
request  the  First  division  was  transferred  from  the  Toul  sector  to  a 
position  in  reserve  at  Chaumont  en  Vexin.  As  German  superiority 
in  numbers  required  prompt  action,  an  agreement  was  reached  at 
the  Abbeville  conference  of  the  Allied  premiers  and  commanders  and 
myself  on  May  2d  by  which  British  shipping  was  to  transport  ten 
American  divisions  to  the  British  army  area,  where  they  were  to 
be  trained  and  equipped,  and  additional  British  shipping  was  to  be 
provided  for  as  many  divisions  as  possible  for  use  elsewhere. 

On  April  26th  the  First  Division  had  gone  into  the  line  in 
the  Montdidier  salient  on  the  Picardy  battle  front.  Tactics  had 
been  suddenly  revolutionized  to  those  of  open  warfare,  and  our 
men,  confident  of  the  results  of  their  training,  were  eager  for  the 
test.  On  the  morning  of  May  28th  this  division  attacked  the 
commanding  German  position  in  its  front,  taking  with  splendid 
dash  the  town  of  Cantigny  and  all  other  objectives,  which  were 
organized  and  held  steadfastly  against  vicious  counter-attacks  and 
galling  artillery  fire.  Although  local,  this  brilliant  action  had  an 
electrical  effect,  as  it  demonstrated  our  fighting  qualities  under 
extreme  battle  conditions,  and  also  that  the  enemy's  troops  were 
not  altogether  invincible. 

The  Germans'  Aisne  offensive,  which  began  on  May  27th, 
had  advanced  rapidly  toward  the  River  Marne  and  Paris,  and 
the  Allies  faced  a  crisis  equally  as  grave  as  that  of  the  Picardy 
offensive  in  March.  Again  every  available  man  was  placed  at 
Marshal  Foch's  disposal,  and  the  Third  Division,  which  had  just 
come  from  its  preliminary  training  in  the  trenches,  was  hurried  to 
the  Marne.  Its  motorized  machine-gun  battalion  preceded  the 
other  units  and  successfully  held  the  bridge-head  at  the  Marne, 
opposite  Chateau-Thierry.  The  Second  Division,  in  reserve  near 


706  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Montdidier,  was  sent  by  motor  trucks  and  other  available  transport 
to  check  the  progress  of  the  enemy  toward  Paris  The  division 
attacked  and  retook  the  town  and  railroad  station  at  Bouresches 
and  sturdily  held  its  ground  against  the  enemy's  best  guard  divi- 
sions. In  the  battle  of  Belleau  Wood,  which  followed,  our  men 
proved  their  superiority  and  gamed  a  strong  tactical  position,  with 
far  greater  loss  to  the  enemy  than  to  ourselves.  On  July  1st, 
before  the  Second  was  relieved,  it  captured  the  village  of  Vaux 
with  most  splendid  precision. 

Meanwhile  our  Second  Corps,  under  Maj.-Gen.  George  W. 
Read,  had  been  organized  for  the  command  of  our  divisions  with 
the  British,  which  were  held  back  in  training  areas  or  assigned 
to  second-line  defenses.  Five  of  the  ten  divisions  were  withdrawn 
from  the  British  area  hi  June,  three  to  relieve  divisions  in  Lorraine 
and  the  Vosges  and  two  to  the  Paris  area  to  join  the  group  of 
American  divisions  which  stood  between  the  city  and  any  farther 
advance  of  the  enemy  in  that  direction. 

The  great  June-July  troop  movement  from  the  States  was 
well  under  way,  and,  although  these  troops  were  to  be  given  some 
preHminary  training  before  being  put  into  action,  their  very  pres- 
ence warranted  the  use  of  all  the  older  divisions  in  the  confidence 
that  we  did  not  lack  reserves.  Elements  of  the  Forty-second 
Division  were  in  the  line  east  of  Rheims  against  the  German 
offensive  of  July  15th,  and  held  their  ground  unflinchingly.  On 
the  right  flank  of  this  offensive  four  companies  of  the  Twenty-eighth 
Division  were  in  position  in  face  of  the  advancing  waves  of  the 
German  infantry.  The  Third  Division  was  holding  the  bank  of 
the  Marne  from  the  bend  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Surmelin  to  the 
west  of  Me*zy,  opposite  Chdteau-Thierry,  where  a  large  force  of 
German  infantry  sought  to  force  a  passage  under  support  of  powerful 
artillery  concentrations  and  under  cover  of  smoke  screens.  A 
single  regiment  of  the  Third  wrote  one  of  the  most  brilliant  pages  in 
our  military  annals  on  this  occasion.  It  prevented  the  crossing  at 
certain  points  on  its  front  while,  on  either  flank,  the  Germans,  who 
had  gained  a  footing,  pressed  forward.  Our  men,  firing  in  three 
directions,  met  the  German  attacks  with  counter-attacks  at  critical 
points  and  succeeded  in  throwing  two  German  divisions  into  com- 
plete confusion,  capturing  600  prisoners. 

The  great  force  of  the  German   Chateau-Thierry  offensive 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY         707 

established  the  deep  Marne  salient,  but  the  enemy  was  taking 
chances,  and  the  vulnerability  of  this  pocket  to  attack  might  be 
turned  to  his  disadvantage.  Seizing  this  opportunity  to  support 
my  conviction,  every  division  with  any  sort  of  training  was  made 
available  for  use  m  a  counter-offensive.  The  place  of  honor  hi  the 
thrust  toward  Soissons  on  July  18th  was  given  to  our  First  and 
Second  divisions  in  company  with  chosen  French  divisions.  With- 
out the  usual  brief  warning  of  a  preliminary  bombardment,  the 
massed  French  and  American  artillery,  firing  by  the  map,  laid  down 
its  rolling  barrage  at  dawn  while  the  infantry  began  its  charge. 
The  tactical  handling  of  our  troops  under  these  trying  conditions 
was  excellent  throughout  the  action.  The  enemy  brought  up  large 
numbers  of  reserves  and  made  a  stubborn  defense  both  with 
machine  guns  and  artillery,  but  through  five  days'  fighting  the 
First  Division  continued  to  advance  until  it  had  gained  the  heights 
above  Soissons  and  captured  the  village  of  Berzy-le-sec.  The 
Second  Division  took  Beau  Repaire  farm  and  Vierzy  hi  a  very 
rapid  advance  and  reached  a  position  hi  front  of  Tigny  at  the  end 
of  its  second  day.  These  two  divisions  captured  7,000  prisoners 
and  over  100  pieces  of  artillery. 

The  Twenty-sixth  Division,  which,  with  a  French  division, 
was  under  command  of  our  First  Corps,  acted  as  a  pivot  of  the 
movement  toward  Soissons.  On  the  18th  it  took  the  village  of 
Torcy  while  the  Third  Division  was  crossing  the  Marne  in  pursuit 
of  the  retiring  enemy.  The  Twenty-sixth  attacked  again  on  the 
21st,  and  the  enemy  withdrew  past  the  Ch&teau-Thierry-Soissons 
road.  The  Third  Division,  continuing  its  progress,  took  the 
heights  of  Mont  St.  Pere  and  the  villages  of  Charteves  and  Jaul- 
gonne  in  the  face  of  both  machine-gun  and  artillery  fire. 

On  the  24th,  after  the  Germans  had  fallen  back  from  Trugny 
and  Epieds,  our  Forty-second  Division,  which  had  been  brought 
over  from  the  Champagne,  relieved  the  Twenty-sixth  and,  fighting 
its  way  through  the  Foret  de  Fere,  overwhelmed  the  nest  of  machine 
guns  hi  its  path.  By  the  27th  it  had  reached  the  Ourcq,  whence 
the  Third  and  Fourth  divisions  were  already  advancing,  while 
the  French  divisions  with  which  we  were  co-operating  were  moving 
forward  at  other  points. 

The  Third  Division  had  made  its  advance  into  Roncheres 
Wood  on  the  29th  and  was  relieved  for  rest  by  a  brigade  of  the 


708  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Thirty-second.  The  Forty-second  and  Thirty-second  undertook 
the  task  of  conquering  the  heights  beyond  Cierges,  the  Forty-second 
capturing  Sergy  and  the  Thirty-second  capturing  Hill  230,  both 
American  divisions  joining  hi  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy  to  the  Vesle, 
and  thus  the  operation  of  reducing  the  salient  was  finished.  Mean- 
while the  Forty-second  was  relieved  by  the  Fourth  at  Ch6ry- 
Chartreuve,  and  the  Thirty-second  by  the  Twenty-eighth,  while 
the  Seventy-seventh  Division  took  up  a  position  on  the  Vesle. 
The  operations  of  these  divisions  on  the  Vesle  were  under  the 
Third  Corps,  Ma j. -Gen.  Robert  L.  Bullard,  commanding. 

BATTLE   OF  ST.   MIHIEL 

With  the  reduction  of  the  Marne  salient  we  could  look  forward 
to  the  concentration  of  our  divisions  hi  our  own  zone.  In  view  of 
the  forthcoming  operation  against  the  St.  Mihiel  salient,  which 
had  long  been  planned  as  our  first  offensive  action  on  a  large  scale, 
the  First  Army  was  organized  on  August  10th  under  my  personal 
command.  While  American  units  had  held  different  divisional 
and  corps  sectors  along  the  western  front,  there  had  not  been  up  to 
this  tune,  for  obvious  reasons,  a  distinct  American  sector;  but,  in 
view  of  the  important  parts  the  American  forces  were  now  to  play, 
it  was  necessary  to  take  over  a  permanent  portion  of  the  line. 
Accordingly,  on  August  30th,  the  line  beginning  at  Port  sur  Seille, 
east  of  the  Moselle  and  extending  to  the  west  through  St.  Mihiel, 
thence  north  to  a  point  opposite  Verdun,  was  placed  under  my  com- 
mand. The  American  sector  was  afterwards  extended  across  tlo.3 
Meuse  to  the  western  edge  of  the  Argonne  Forest,  and  included  the 
Second  Colonial  French,  which  held  the  point  of  the  salient,  and 
the  Seventeenth  French  Corps,  which  occupied  the  heights  above 
Verdun. 

The  preparation  for  a  complicated  operation  against  the  for- 
midable defenses  in  front  of  us  included  the  assembling  of  divisions 
and  of  corps  and  army  artillery,  transport,  aircraft,  tanks,  ambu- 
lances, the  location  of  hospitals,  and  the  molding  together  of  all  of 
the  elements  of  a  great  modern  army  with  its  own  railheads,  sup- 
plied directly  by  our  own  Service  of  Supply.  The  concentration 
for  this  operation,  which  was  to  be  a  surprise,  involved  the  move- 
ment, mostly  at  night,  of  approximately  600,000  troops,  and 
required  for  its  success  the  most  careful  attention  to  every  detail. 


©  Committee  on  Public  Informal 


THE  AMERICAN   COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF  IN  THE  FIELD 

vu^u0^^^0!.?6116™1  John  J-  pershing  just  after  he  had  been  decorated 
Btar  and  Ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  of  France,  the  highest  decoration 
ever  awarded  an  American  soldier.     General  Pershing  was  raised  to  a  full  general- 
ship soon  after  his  arrival  in  France,  an  honor  which  has  previously  been  held 
only  by  Washington,  Grant,  Sherman  and  Sheridan. 


NOTED   AMERICAN   GENERALS 

General  March  is  chief  of  staff  of  the  American  Army,  Lieutenant- 
Generala  Liggett  and  Bullard  commanded  the  First  and  Second  Armies 
respectively,  and  Major-Generals  Wright  and  Read  are  corps  commanders. 


The  French  were  generous  in  giving  us  assistance  in  corps  and 
army  artillery,  with  its  personnel,  and  we  were  confident  from  the 
start  of  our  superiority  over  the  enemy  in  guns  of  all  calibers.  Our 
heavy  guns  were  able  to  reach  Metz  and  to  interfere  seriously 
with  German  rail  movements.  The  French  Independent  Air  Force 
was  placed  under  my  command  which,  together  with  the  British 
bombing  squadrons  and  our  air  forces,  gave  us  the  largest  assembly 
of  aviation  that  had  ever  been  engaged  in  one  operation  on  the 
western  front. 

From  Les  Eparges  around  the  nose  of  the  salient  at  St.  Mihiel 
to  the  Moselle  River  the  line  was  roughly  forty  miles  long  and  sit- 
uated on  commanding  ground  greatly  strengthened  by  artificial 
defenses.  Our  First  Corps  (Eighty-second,  Ninetieth,  Fifth,  and 
Second  divisions)  under  command  of  Major-General  Hunter 
Liggett,  restrung  its  right  on  Pont-a-Mousson,  with  its  left  joining 
our  Third  Corps  (the  Eighty-ninth,  Forty-second,  and  First  divi- 
sions), under  Major-General  Joseph  T.  Dickma'n,  hi  line  to  Xivray, 
were  to  swing  in  toward  Vigneulles  on  the  pivot  of  the  Moselle 
River  for  the  initial  assault.  From  Xivray  to  Mouilly  the  Second 
Colonial  French  Corps  was  in  line  in  the  center  and  our  Fifth  Corps, 
under  command  of  Major-General  George  H.  Cameron,  with  our 
Twenty-sixth  Division  and  a  French  division  at  the  western  base 
of  the  salient,  were  to  attack  three  difficult  hills — Les  Eparges, 
Combres,  and  Amaramthe.  Our  First  Corps  had  in  reserve  the 
Seventy-eighth  Division,  our  Fourth  Corps  the  Third  Division 
and  our  First  Army  the  Thirty-fifth  and  Ninety-first  Divisions, 
with  the  Eightieth  and  Thirty-third  available.  It  should  be  under- 
stood that  our  corps  organizations  are  very  elastic,  and  that  we 
have  at  no  tune  had  permanent  assignments  of  divisions  to  corps. 

After  four  hours'  artillery  preparation,  the  seven  American 
divisions  in  the  front  line  advanced  at  5  A.  M.,  on  September  12th, 
assisted  by  a  limited  number  of  tanks  manned  partly  by  Americans 
and  partly  by  the  French.  These  divisions,  accompanied  by  groups 
of  wire  cutters  and  others  armed  with  bangalore  torpedoes,  went 
through  the  successive  bands  of  barbed  wire  that  protected  the 
enemy's  front  line  and  support  trenches,  in  irresistible  waves  on 
schedule  time,  breaking  down  all  defense  of  an  enemy  demoralized 
by  the  great  volume  of  our  artillery  fire  and  our  sudden  approach 
out  of  the  fog. 


712  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Our  First  Corps  advanced  to  Thiaucourt,  while  our  Fourth 
Corps  curved  back  to  the  southwest  through  Nonsard.  The 
Second  Colonial  French  Corps  made  the  slight  advance  required 
of  it  on  very  difficult  ground,  and  the  Fifth  Corps  took  its  three 
ridges  and  repulsed  a  counter-attack.  A  rapid  march  brought 
reserve  regiments  of  a  division  of  the  Fifth  Corps  into  Vigneulles 
in  the  early  morning,  where  it  linked  up  with  patrols  of  our  Fourth 
Corps,  closing  the  salient  and  forming  a  new  line  west  of  Thiaucourt 
to  Vigneulles  and  beyond  Fresnes-en-Woevre.  At  the  cost  of  only 
7,000  casualties,  mostly  light,  we  had  taken  16,000  prisoners  and 
443  guns,  a  great  quantity  of  material,  released  the  inhabitants  of 
many  villages  from  enemy  domination,  and  established  our  lines 
in  a  position  to  threaten  Metz.  This  signal  success  of  the  American 
First  Army  in  its  first  offensive  was  of  prime  importance.  The 
Allies  found  they  had  a  formidable  army  to  aid  them,  and  the 
enemy  learned  finally  that  he  had  one  to  reckon  with. 

MEUSE-AEGONNE   OFFENSIVE,   FIKST  PHASE 

On  the  day  after  we  had  taken  the  St.  Mihiel  salient,  much  of 
our  corps  and  army  artillery  which  had  operated  at  St.  Mihiel, 
and  our  divisions  hi  reserve  at  other  points,  were  already  on  the 
move  toward  the  area  back  of  the  line  between  the  Meuse  River 
and  the  western  edge  of  the  forest  of  Argonne.  With  the  exception 
of  St.  Mihiel,  the  old  German  front  line  from  Switzerland  to  the 
east  of  Rheims  was  still  intact.  In  the  general  attack  all  along  the 
line,  the  operation  assigned  the  American  army  as  the  hinge  of 
this  Allied  offensive  was  directed  toward  the  important  railroad 
communications  of  the  German  armies  through  Me"zie"res  and  Sedan. 
The  enemy  must  hold  fast  to  this  part  of  his  lines  or  the  withdrawal 
of  his  forces  with  four  years'  accumulation  of  plants  and  material 
would  be  dangerously  imperiled. 

The  German  army  had  as  yet  shown  no  demoralization  and, 
while  the  mass  of  its  troops  had  suffered  hi  morale,  its  first-class 
divisions,  and  notably  its  machine-gun  defense,  were  exhibiting 
remarkable  tactical  efficiency  as  well  as  courage.  The  German 
General  Staff  was  fully  aware  of  the  consequences  of  a  success  on 
the  Meuse-Argonne  line.  Certain  that  he  would  do  everything  hi 
his  power  to  oppose  us,  the  action  was  planned  with  as  much  secrecy 
as  possible  and  was  undertaken  with  the  determination  to  use  all 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY         713 

our  divisions  in  forcing  decision.  We  expected  to  draw  the  best 
German  divisions  to  our  front  and  to  consume  them  while  the 
enemy  was  held  under  grave  apprehension  lest  our  attack  should 
break  his  line,  which  it  was  our  firm  purpose  to  do.  .  .  . 

Our  right  flank  was  protected  by  the  Meuse,  while  our  left 
embraced  the  Argonne  Forest  whose  ravines,  hills,  and  elaborate 
defense  screened  by  dense  thickets  had  been  generally  considered 
impregnable.  Our  order  of  battle  from  right  to  left  was  the  Third 
Corps  from  the  Meuse  to  Malancourt,  with  the  Thirty-third, 
Eightieth,  and  Fourth  divisions  in  line,  and  the  Third  Division  as 
corps  reserve;  the  Fifth  Corps  from  Malancourt  to  Vauquois,  with 
Seventy-ninth,  Eighty-seventh,  and  Ninety-first  divisions  hi  line, 
and  the  Thirty-second  in  corps  reserve;  and  the  First  Corps,  from 
Vauquois  to  Vienne  le  Chateau,  with  Thirty-fifth,  Twenty-eighth, 
and  Seventy-seventh  divisions  in  line,  and  the  Ninety-second  in 
corps  reserve.  The  army  reserve  consisted  of  the  First,  Twenty- 
ninth,  and  Eighty-second  divisions. 

On  the  night  of  September  25th  our  troops  quietly  took  the 
place  of  the  French  who  thinly  held  the  line  in  this  sector  which 
had  long  been  inactive.  In  the  attack  which  began  on  the  26th 
we  drove  through  the  barbed  wire  entanglements  and  the  sea  of 
shell  craters  across  No  Man's  Land,  mastering  the  first-line  defenses. 
Continuing  on  the  27th  and  28th,  against  machine  guns  and  artillery 
of  an  increasing  number  of  enemy  reserve  divisions,  we  penetrated 
to  a  depth  of  from  three  to  seven  miles,  and  took  the  village  of 
Montfaucon  and  its  commanding  hill  and  Exermont,  Gercourt, 
Cuisy,  Septsarges,  Malancourt,  Ivoiry,  Epinonville,  Charpentry, 
Very,  and  other  villages.  East  of  the  Meuse  one  of  our  divisions, 
which  was  with  the  Second  Colonial  French  Corps,  captured  Marche- 
ville  and  Rieville,  giving  further  protection  to  the  flank  of  our 
main  body.  We  had  taken  10,000  prisoners,  we  had  gained  our 
point  of  forcing  the  battle  into  the  open  and  were  prepared  for  the 
enemy's  reaction,  which  was  bound  to  come  as  he  had  good  roads 
and  ample  railroad  facilities  for  bringing  up  his  artillery  and 
reserves. 

In  the  chill  rain  of  dark  nights  our  engineers  had  to  build 
new  roads  across  spongy,  shell-torn  areas,  repair  broken  roads 
beyond  No  Man's  Land,  and  build  bridges.  Our  gunners,  with  no 
thought  of  sleep,  put  their  shoulders  to  wheels  and  dragropes  to 


714  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD   WAR 

bring  their  guns  through  the  mire  in  support  of  the  infantry,  now 
under  the  increasing  fire  of  the  enemy's  artillery.  Our  attack  had 
taken  the  enemy  by  surprise,  but,  quickly  recovering  himself,  he 
began  to  fire  counter-attacks  hi  strong  force,  supported  by  heavy 
bombardments,  with  large  quantities  of  gas.  From  September  28th 
until  October  4th  we  maintained  the  offensive  against  patches  of 
woods  defended  by  snipers  and  continuous  lines  of  machine  guns, 
and  pushed  forward  our  guns  and  transport,  seizing  strategical 
points  in  preparation  for  further  attacks. 

OTHER   UNITS   WITH   ALLIES 

Other  divisions  attached  to  the  Allied  armies  were  doing  their 
part.  It  was  the  fortune  of  our  Second  Corps,  composed  of  the 
Twenty-seventh  and  Thirtieth  divisions,  which  had  remained  with 
the  British,  to  have  a  place  of  honor  hi  co-operation  with  the  Aus- 
tralian Corps,  on  September  29th  and  October  1st,  in  the  assault  on 
the  Hindenburg  line  where  the  St.  Quentin  Canal  passes  through 
a  tunnel  under  a  ridge.  The  Thirtieth  Division  speedily  broke 
through  the  main  line  of  defense  for  all  its  objectives,  while  the 
Twenty-seventh  pushed  on  impetuously  through  the  main  line  until 
some  of  its  elements  reached  Gouy.  In  the  midst  of  the  maze  of 
trenches  and  shell  craters  and  under  cross-fire  from  machine  guns 
the  other  elements  fought  desperately  against  odds.  In  this  and  in 
later  actions,  from  October  6th  to  October  19th,  our  Second  Corps 
captured  over  6,000  prisoners  and  advanced  over  thirteen  miles. 
The  spirit  and  aggressiveness  of  these  divisions  have  been  highly 
praised  by  the  British  army  commander  under  whom  they  served. 

On  October  2d  to  9th  our  Second  and  Thirty-sixth  divisions 
were  sent  to  assist  the  French  hi  an  important  attack  against  the 
old  German  positions  before  Rheims.  The  Second  conquered  the 
complicated  defense  works  on  their  front  against  a  persistent  defense 
worthy  of  the  grimmest  period  of  trench  warfare  and  attacked  the 
strongly  held  wooded  hill  of  Blanc  Mont,  which  they  captured  in  a 
second  assault,  sweeping  over  it  with  consummate  dash  and  skill. 
This  division  then  repulsed  strong  counter-attacks  before  the 
village  and  cemetery  of  Ste.  Etienne  and  took  the  town,  forcing  the 
Germans  to  fall  back  from  before  Rheims  and  yield  positions  they 
had  held  since  September,  1914.  On  October  9th  the  Thirty-sixth 
Division  relieved  the  Second  and,  in  its  first  experience  under  fire, 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY         715 

withstood  very  severe  artillery  bombardment  and  rapidly  took  up 
the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  now  retiring  behind  the  Aisne. 

MEUSE-ARGONNE    OFFENSIVE,    SECOND    PHASE 

The  Allied  progress  elsewhere  cheered  the  efforts  of  our  men 
in  this  crucial  contest  as  the  German  command  threw  in  more  and 
more  first-class  troops  to  stop  our  advance.  We  made  steady  head- 
way in  the  almost  impenetrable  and  strongly  held  Argonne  Forest, 
for,  despite  this  reinforcement,  it  was  our  army  that  was  doing  the 
driving.  Our  aircraft  was  increasing  in  skill  and  numbers  and 
forcing  the  issue,  and  our  infantry  and  artillery  were  improving 
rapidly  with  each  new  experience.  The  replacements  fresh  from 
home  wTere  put  into  exhausted  divisions  with  little  time  for  training, 
but  they  had  the  advantage  of  serving  beside  men  who  knew  their 
business  and  who  had  almost  become  veterans  over  night.  The 
enemy  had  taken  every  advantage  of  the  terrain,  which  especially 
favored  the  defense,  by  a  prodigal  use  of  machine  guns  manned  by 
highly-trained  veterans  and  by  using  his  artillery  at  short  ranges. 
In  the  face  of  such  strong  frontal  positions  we  should  have  been 
unable  to  accomplish  any  progress  according  to  previously  accepted 
standards,  but  I  had  every  confidence  in  our  aggressive  tactics  and 
the  courage  of  our  troops. 

On  October  4th  the  attack  was  renewed  all  along  our  front. 
The  Third  Corps  tilting  to  the  left  followed  the  Brieulles-Cunel 
road;  our  Fifth  Corps  took  Gesnes  while  the  First  Corps  advanced 
for  over  two  miles  along  the  irregular  valley  of  the  Aire  River  and 
in  the  wooded  hills  of  the  Argonne  that  bordered  the  river,  used  by 
the  enemy  with  all  his  art  and  weapons  of  defense.  This  sort  of 
fighting  continued  against  an  enemy  striving  to  hold  every  foot  of 
ground  and  whose  very  strong  counter-attacks  challenged  us  at 
every  point.  On  the  7th  the  First  Corps  captured  Chatel-Che'hery 
and  continued  along  the  river  to  Cornay.  On  the  east  of  Meuse 
sector  one  of  the  two  divisions  co-operating  with  the  French 
captured  Consenvoye  and  the  Haumont  Woods.  On  the  9th  the 
Fifth  Corps,  in  its  progress  up  the  Aire,  took  Fle'ville,  and  the 
Third  Corps,  which  had  continuous  fighting  against  odds,  was 
working  its  way  through  Brieulles  and  Cunel.  On  the  10th  we  had 
cleared  the  Argonne  Forest  of  the  enemy. 

It  was  now  necessary  to  constitute  a  second  army,  and  on 


716  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD  WAR 

October  9th  the  immediate  command  of  the  First  Army  was  turned 
over  to  Lieutenant-General  Hunter  Liggett.  The  command  of  the 
Second  Army,  whose  divisions  occupied  a  sector  in  the  Woevre, 
was  given  to  Lieutenant-General  Robert  L.  Bullard,  who  had  been 
commander  of  the  First  Division  and  then  of  the  Third  Corps. 
Major-General  Dickman  was  transferred  to  the  command  of  the 
First  Corps,  while  the  Fifth  Corps  was  placed  under  Major-General 
Charles  P.  Summerall,  who  had  recently  commanded  the  First 
Division.  Major-General  John  L.  Hines,  who  had  gone  rapidly  up 
from  regimental  to  division  commander,  was  assigned  to  the  Third 
Corps.  These  four  officers  had  been  in  France  from  the  early  days 
of  the  expedition  and  had  learned  their  lessons  in  the  school  of 
practical  warfare. 

Our  constant  pressure  against  the  enemy  brought  day  by  day 
more  prisoners,  mostly  survivors  from  machine-gun  nests  captured 
hi  fighting  at  close  quarters.  On  October  18th  there  was  very 
fierce  fighting  in  the  Caures  Woods  east  of  the  Meuse  and  hi  the 
Ormont  Woods.  On  the  14th  the  First  Corps  took  St.  Juvin,  and 
the  Fifth  Corps,  in  hand-to-hand  encounters,  entered  the  formidable 
Kriemhilde  line,  where  the  enemy  had  hoped  to  check  us  indefinitely. 
Later  the  Fifth  Corps  penetrated  further  the  Kriemhilde  line,  and 
the  First  Corps  took  Champigneulles  and  the  important  town  of 
Grandpre.  Our  dogged  offensive  was  wearing  down  the  enemy,  who 
continued  desperately  to  throw  his  best  troops  against  us,  thus  weak- 
ening his  line  in  front  of  our  Allies  and  making  their  advance  less 
difficult. 

DIVISIONS   IN  BELGIUM 

Meanwhile  we  were  not  only  able  to  continue  the  battle,  but 
our  Thirty-seventh  and  Ninety-first  divisions  were  hastily  with- 
drawn from  our  front  and  dispatched  to  help  the  French  army 
in  Belgium.  Detraining  hi  the  neighborhood  of  Ypres,  these  divi- 
sions advanced  by  rapid  stages  to  the  fighting  line  and  were  assigned 
to  adjacent  French  corps.  On  October  31st,  hi  continuation  of 
the  Flanders  offensive,  they  attacked  and  methodically  broke  down 
all  enemy  resistance.  On  November  3d  the  Thirty-seventh  had 
completed  its  mission  hi  dividing  the  enemy  across  the  Escaut 
River  and  firmly  established  itself  along  the  east  bank  included  in 
the  division  zone  of  action.  By  a  clever  flanking  movement  troops 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY        717 

of  the  Ninety-first  Division  captured  Spitaals  Bosschen,  a  difficult 
wood  extending  across  the  central  part  of  the  division  sector,  reached 
the  Escaut,  and  penetrated  into  the  town  of  Audenarde.  These 
divisions  received  high  commendation  from  their  corps  commanders 
for  their  dash  and  energy. 

MEUSE  ARGONNE — LAST  PHASE 

On  the  23d  the  Third  and  Fifth  corps  pushed  northward  to  the 
level  of  Bantheville.  While  we  continued  to  press  forward  and 
throw  back  the  enemy's  violent  counter-attacks  with  great  loss  to 
him,  a  regrouping  of  our  forces  was  under  way  for  the  final  assault. 
Evidences  of  loss  of  morale  by  the  enemy  gave  our  men  more  confi- 
dence hi  attack  and  more  fortitude  in  enduring  the  fatigue  of  inces- 
sant effort  and  the  hardships  of  very  inclement  weather. 

With  comparatively  well-rested  divisions,  the  final  advance  in 
the  Meuse-Argonne  front  was  begun  on  November  1st.  Our 
increased  artillery  force  acquitted  itself  magnificently  in  support 
of  the  advance,  and  the  enemy  broke  before  the  determined  infantry, 
which,  by  its  persistent  fighting  of  the  past  weeks  and  the  dash 
of  this  attack,  had  overcome  his  will  to  resist.  The  Third  Corps 
took  Aincreville,  Doulcon,  and  Andevanne,  and  the  Fifth  Corps 
took  Landres  et  St.  Georges  and  pressed  through  successive  lines 
of  resistance  to  Bayonville  and  Chennery.  On  the  2d  the  First  Corps 
joined  in  the  movement, which  now  became  an  impetuous  onslaught 
that  could  not  be  stayed. 

On  the  3d  advance  troops  surged  forward  hi  pursuit,  some  by 
motor  trucks,  while  the  artillery  pressed  along  the  country  roads 
close  behind.  The  First  Corps  reached  Authe  and  Chatillon-Sur- 
Bar,  the  Fifth  Corps,  Fosse  and  Nouart,  and  the  Third  Corps  Halles, 
penetrating  the  enemy's  line  to  a  depth  of  twelve  miles.  Our  large 
caliber  guns  had  advanced  and  were  skilfully  brought  into  position 
to  fire  upon  the  important  lines  at  Montmedy,  Longuyon,  and 
Conflans.  Our  Third  Corps  crossed  the  Meuse  on  the  5th  and  the 
other  corps,  in  the  full  confidence  that  the  day  was  theirs,  eagerly 
cleared  the  way  of  machine  guns  as  they  swept  northward,  maintain- 
ing complete  coordination  throughout.  On  the  6th,  a  division  of 
the  First  Corps  reached  a  point  on  the  Meuse  opposite  Sedan, 
twenty-five  miles  from  our  line  of  departure.  The  strategical  goal 
which  was  our  highest  hope  was  gamed.  We  had  cut  the  enemy's 


718  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

main  line  of  communications,  and  nothing  but  surrender  or  an 
armistice  could  save  his  army  from  complete  disaster. 

In  all  forty  enemy  divisions  had  been  used  against  us  hi  the 
Meuse-Argonne  battle.  Between  September  26th  and  November 
6th  we  took  26,059  prisoners  and  468  guns  on  this  front.  Our 
divisions  engaged  were  the  First,  Second,  Third,  Fourth,  Fifth, 
Twenty-sixth,  Twenty-eighth,  Twenty-ninth,  Thirty-second,  Thirty- 
third,  Thirty-fifth,  Thirty-seventh,  Forty-second,  Seventy-seventh, 
Seventy-eighth,  Seventy-ninth,  Eightieth,  Eighty-second,  Eighty- 
ninth,  Ninetieth,  and  Ninety-first.  Many  of  our  divisions  remained 
in  line  for  a  length  of  tune  that  required  nerves  of  steel,  while  others 
were  sent  hi  again  after  only  a  few  days  of  rest.  The  First,  Fifth, 
Twenty-sixth,  Forty-second,  Seventy-seventh,  Eightieth,  Eighty- 
ninth,  and  Ninetieth  were  hi  the  line  twice.  Although  some  of  the 
divisions  were  fighting  their  first  battle,  they  soon  became  equal 
to  the  best. 

OPERATIONS  EAST  OP  THE  METJSE 

On  the  three  days  preceding  November  10th,  the  Third,  the 
Second  Colonial,  and  the  Seventeenth  French  corps  fought  a  dim- 
cult  struggle  through  the  Meuse  Hills  south  of  Stenay  and  forced 
the  enemy  into  the  plain.  Meanwhile,  my  plans  for  further  use 
of  the  American  forces  contemplated  an  advance  between  the  Meuse 
and  the-  Moselle  in  the  direction  of  Longwy  by  the  First  Army, 
while,  at  the  same  tune,  the  Second  Army  should  assure  the  offensive 
toward  the  rich  coal  fields  of  Briey.  These  operations  were  to  be 
followed  by  an  offensive  toward  Chateau-Salic  s  east  of  the  Moselle, 
thus  isolating  Metz.  Accordingly,  attacks  on  the  American  front 
had  been  ordered  and  that  of  the  Second  Army  was  in  progress  on 
the  morning  of  November  llth,  when  instructions  were  received 
that  hostilities  should  cease  at  11  o'clock  A.  M. 

At  this  moment  the  line  of  the  American  sector,  from  right  to 
left,  began  at  Port-Sur-Seille,  thence  across  the  Moselle  to  Van- 
dieres  and  through  the  Woevre  to  Bezonvaux  in  the  foothills  of 
the  Meuse,  thence  along  to  the  foothills  and  through  the  northern 
edge  of  the  Woevre  forests  to  the  Meuse  at  Mouzay,  thence  along  the 
Meuse  connecting  with  the  French  under  Sedan.  .  .  . 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY         719 

There  are  in  Europe  altogether,  including  a  regiment  and  some 
sanitary  units  with  the  Italian  army  and  the  organizations  at  Mur- 
mansk, also  including  those  en  route  from  the  States,  approximately 
2,053,347  men,  less  our  losses.  Of  this  total  there  are  in  France 
1,338,169  combatant  troops.  Forty  divisions  have  arrived,  of  which 
the  infantry  personnel  of  ten  have  been  used  as  replacements, 
leaving  thirty  divisions  now  in  France  organized  into  three  armies 
of  three  corps  each. 

The  losses  of  the  Americans  up  to  November  18th  are:  Killed 
and  wounded,  36,145;  died  of  disease,  14,811;  deaths  unclassified, 
2,204;  wounded,  179,625;  prisoners,  2,163;  missing,  1,160.  We 
have  captured  about  44,000  prisoners  and  1,400  guns,  howitzers 
and  trench  mortars.  .  .  . 

Finally,  I  pay  the  supreme  tribute  to  our  officers  and  soldiers 
of  the  line.  When  I  think  of  their  heroism,  their  patience  under 
hardships,  their  unflinching  spirit  of  offensive  action,  I  am  filled 
with  emotion  which  I  am  unable  to  express.  Their  deeds  are  im- 
mortal, and  they  have  earned  the  eternal  gratitude  of  our  country. 


CHAPTER  LIX 
PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  WAB 

ON  DECEMBER  2, 1918,  just  prior  to  sailing  for  Europe  to 
take  part  in  the  Peace  Conference,  President  Wilson 
addressed  Congress,  reviewing  the  work  of  the  American 
people,  soldiers,  sailors  and  civilians,  hi  the  World  War 
which  had  been  brought  to  a  successful  conclusion  on  November 
llth.     His  speech,  hi  part,  follows: 

"The  year  that  has  elapsed  since  I  last  stood  before  you  to  fulfil 
my  constitutional  duty  to  give  to  the  Congress  from  tune  to  tune 
information  on  the  state  of  the  Union  has  been  so  crowded  with 
great  events,  great  processes  and  great  results  that  I  cannot  hope 
to  give  you  an  adequate  picture  of  its  transactions  or  of  the  far- 
reaching  changes  which  have  been  wrought  hi  the  life  of  our  Nation 
and  of  the  world.  You  have  yourselves  witnessed  these  things,  as 
I  have.  It  is  too  soon  to  assess  them;  and  we  who  stand  hi  the 
midst  of  them  and  are  part  of  them  are  less  qualified  than  men  of 
another  generation  will  be  to  say  what  they  mean  or  even  what 
they  have  been.  But  some  great  outstanding  facts  are  unmis- 
takable and  constitute  hi  a  sense  part  of  the  public  business  with 
which  it  is  our  duty  to  deal.  To  state  them  is  to  set  the  stage  for 
the  legislative  and  executive  action  which  must  grow  out  of  them 
and  which  we  have  yet  to  shape  and  determine. 

"A  year  ago  we  had  sent  145,918  men  overseas.  Since  then  we 
have  sent  1,950,513,  an  average  of  162,542  each  month,  the  num- 
ber hi  fact  rising  in  May  last  to  245,951,  hi  June  to  278,760,  hi 
July  to  307,182  and  continuing  to  reach  similar  figures  hi  August 
and  September — hi  August  289,570  and  hi  September  257,438. 
No  such  movement  of  troops  ever  took  place  before,  across  3,000 
miles  of  sea,  followed  by  adequate  equipment  and  supplies,  and 
carried  safely  through  extraordinary  dangers  of  attack,  dangers 
which  were  alike  strange  and  infinitely  difficult  to  guard  against. 
In  all  this  movement  only  758  men  were  lost  by  enemy  attacks, 

720 


PRESIDENT'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  WAR        721 

630  of  whom  were  upon  a  single  English  transport  which  was 
sunk  near  the  Orkney  Islands. 

"I  need  not  tell  you  what  lay  back  of  this  great  movement  of 
men  and  material.  It  is  not  invidious  to  say  that  back  of  it  lay  a 
supporting  organization  of  the  industries  of  the  country  and  of  all 
its  productive  activities  more  complete,  more  thorough  hi  method 
and  effective  in  results,  more  spirited  and  unanimous  in  purpose 
and  effort  than  any  other  great  belligerent  had  ever  been  able  to 
effect.  We  profited  greatly  by  the  experience  of  the  nations  which 
had  already  been  engaged  for  nearly  three  years  in  the  exigent 
and  exacting  business,  their  every  resource  and  every  proficiency 
taxed  to  the  utmost.  We  were  the  pupils.  But  we  learned  quickly 
and  acted  with  a  promptness  and  a  readiness  of  co-operation  that 
justify  our  great  pride  that  we  were  able  to  serve  the  world  with 
unparalleled  energy  and  quick  accomplishment. 

"But  it  is  not  the  physical  scale  and  executive  efficiency  of 
preparation,  supply,  equipment  and  dispatch  that  I  would  dwell 
upon,  but  the  mettle  and  quality  of  the  officers  and  men  we  sent 
over  and  of  the  sailors  who  kept  the  seas,  and  the  spirit  of  the  Nation 
that  stood  behind  them.  No  soldiers,  or  sailors,  ever  proved  them- 
selves more  quickly  ready  for  the  test  of  battle  or  acquitted  them- 
selves with  more  splendid  courage  and  achievement  when  put  to 
the  test.  Those  of  us  who  played  some  part  in  directing  the  great 
processes  by  which  the  war  was  pushed  irresistibly  forward  to 
the  final  triumph  may  now  forget  all  that  and  delight  our  thoughts 
with  the  story  of  what  our  men  did.  Their  officers  understood  the 
grim  and  exacting  task  they  had  undertaken  and  performed  with 
audacity,  efficiency  and  unhesitating  courage  that  touch  the  story 
of  convoy  and  battle  with  imperishable  distinction  at  every  turn, 
whether  the  enterprise  were  great  or  small — from  their  chiefs, 
Pershing  and  Sims,  down  to  the  youngest  lieutenant;  and  their 
men  were  worthy  of  them — such  men  as  hardly  need  to  be  com- 
manded, and  go  to  their  terrible  adventure  blithely  and  with  the 
quick  intelligence  of  those  who  know  just  what  it  is  they  would 
accomplish.  I  am  proud  to  be  the  fellow-countryman  of  men  of 
such  stuff  and  valor.  Those  of  us  who  stayed  at  home  did  our 
duty;  the  war  could  not  have  been  won  or  the  gallant  men  who 
fought  it  given  their  opportunity  to  win  it  otherwise;  but  for 
many  a  long  day  we  shall  think  ourselves  'accursed  we  were  not 


722  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD   WAR 

there,  and  hold  our  manhoods  cheap  while  any  speaks  that  fought ' 
with  these  at  St.  Mihiel  or  Thierry.  The  memory  of  those  days  of 
triumphant  battle  will  go  with  these  fortunate  men  to  their  graves; 
and  each  will  have  his  favorite  memory.  'Old  men  forget;  yet 
all  shall  be  forgot,  but  he'll  remember  with  advantages  what  feats 
he  did  that  day!' 

"What  we  all  thank  God  for  with  deepest  gratitude  is  that  our 
men  went  in  force  into  the  line  of  battle  just  at  the  critical  moment, 
and  threw  their  fresh  strength  into  the  ranks  of  freedom  in  time  to 
turn  the  whole  tide  and  sweep  of  the  fateful  struggle — turn  it 
once  for  all,  so  that  henceforth  it  was  back,  back,  back  for  their 
enemies,  always  back,  never  again  forward!  After  that  it  was 
only  a  scant  four  months  before  the  commanders  of  the  central 
empires  knew  themselves  beaten,  and  now  their  very  empires  are 
in  liquidation! 

"And  throughout  it  all  how  fine  the  spirit  of  the  Nation  was; 
what  unity  of  purpose,  what  untiring  zeal!  What  elevation  of 
purpose  ran  through  all  its  splendid  display  of  strength,  its  untiring 
accomplishment.  I  have  said  that  those  of  us  who  stayed  at  home 
to  do  the  work  of  organization  and  supply  will  always  wish  that 
we  had  been  with  the  men  whom  we  sustained  by  our  labor;  but 
we  can  never  be  ashamed.  It  has  been  an  inspiring  thing  to  be  here 
in  the  midst  of  fine  men  who  had  turned  aside  from  every  private 
interest  of  their  own  and  devoted  the  whole  of  their  trained  capacity 
to  the  tasks  that  supplied  the  sinews  of  the  whole  great  under- 
taking! The  patriotism,  the  unselfishness,  the  thoroughgoing 
devotion  and  distinguished  capacity  that  marked  their  toilsome 
labors,  day  after  day,  month  after  month,  have  made  them  fit 
mates'  and  comrades  of  the  men  in  the  trenches  and  on  the  sea. 
And  not  the  men  here  in  Washington  only.  They  have  but  directed 
the  vast  achievement.  Throughout  innumerable  factories,  upon 
innumerable  farms,  hi  the  depths  of  coal  mines  and  iron  mines 
and  copper  mines',  wherever  the  stuffs  of  industry  were  to  be 
obtained  and  prepared,  hi  the  shipyards,  on  the  railways,  at  the 
docks,  on  the  sea,  hi  every  labor  that  was  needed  to  sustain  the 
battle  lines  men  have  vied  with  each  other  to  do  their  part  and 
do  it  well.  They  can  look  any  man-at-arms  in  the  face,  and  say, 
we  also  strove  to  win  and  gave  the  best  that  was  in  us  to  make  our 
fleets  and  armies  sure  of  their  triumph! 


PRESIDENT'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  WAR        723 

"And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  women — of  their  instant  intelli- 
gence, quickening  every  task  that  they  touched;  their  capacity  for 
organization  and  co-operation,  which  gave  their  action  discipline 
and  enhanced  the  effectiveness  of  everything  they  attempted; 
their  aptitude  at  tasks  to  which  they  had  never  before  set  their 
hands;  their  utter  self-sacrificing  alike  in  what  they  did  and  in 
what  they  gave?  Their  contribution  to  the  great  result  is  beyond 
appraisal.  They  have  added  a  new  luster  to  the  annals  of  American 
womanhood. 

"The  least  tribute  we  can  pay  them  is  to  make  them  the  equals 
of  men  in  political  rights  as  they  have  proved  themselves  their 
equals  in  every  field  of  practical  work  they  have  entered,  whether 
for  themselves  or  for  their  country.  These  great  days  of  completed 
achievement  would  be  sadly  marred  were  we  to  omit  that  act  of 
justice.  Besides  the  immense  practical  services  they  have  ren- 
dered, the  women  of  the  country  have  been  the  moving  spirits  hi  the 
systematic  economies  by  which  our  people  have  voluntarily  assisted 
to  supply  the  suffering  peoples  of  the  world  and  the  armies  upon 
every  front  with  food  and  everything  else  that  we  had  that  might 
serve  the  common  cause.  The  details  of  such  a  story  can  never  be 
fully  written,  but  we  carry  them  at  our  hearts  and  thank  God  that 
we  can  say  we  are  the  kinsmen  of  such. 

"And  now  we  are  sure  of  the  great  triumph  for  which  every 
sacrifice  was  made.  It  has  come,  come  hi  its  completeness,  and 
with  the  pride  and  inspiration  of  these  days  of  achievement  quick 
within  us  we  turn  to  the  tasks  of  peace  again — a  peace  secure  against 
the  violence  of  irresponsible  monarchs  and  ambitious  military 
coteries  and  made  ready  for  a  new  order,  for  new  foundations  of 
justice  and  fair  dealing. 

"We  are  about  to  give  order  and  organization  to  this  peace,  not 
only  for  ourselves,  but  for  the  other  peoples  of  the  world  as  well, 
so  far  as  they  will  suffer  us  to  serve  them.  It  is  international  justice 
that  we  seek,  not  domestic  safety  merely.  .  .  . 

"So  far  as  our  domestic  affairs  are  concerned  the  problem  of  OUT 
return  to  peace  is  a  problem  of  economic  and  industrial  readjust- 
ment. That  problem  is  less  serious  for  us  than  it  may  turn  out  to 
be  for  the  nations  which  have  suffered  the  disarrangements  and 
the  losses  of  war  longer  than  we.  Our  people,  moreover,  do  not 
wait  to  be  coached  and  led,  They  know  their  own  business,  are 


724  HISTORY  OF  THE   WORLD  WAR 

quick  and  resourceful  at  every  readjustment,  definite  in  purpose 
and  self-reliant  in  action.  Any  leading  strings  we  might  seek  to 
put  them  in  would  speedily  become  hopelessly  tangled  because  they 
would  pay  no  attention  to  them  and  go  their  own  way.  All  that 
we  can  do  as  their  legislative  and  executive  servants  is  to  mediate 
the  process  of  change  here,  there  and  elsewhere  as  we  may.  I  have- 
heard  much  counsel  as  to  the  plans  that  should  be  formed  and 
personally  conducted  to  a  happy  consummation,  but  from  no 
quarter  have  I  seen  any  general  scheme  of  reconstruction  emerge 
which  I  thought  it  likely  we  could  force  our  spirited  businessmen 
and  self-reliant  laborers  to  accept  with  due  pliancy  and  obedience, 

"While  the  war  lasted  we  set  up  many  agencies  by  which  to 
direct  the  industries  of  the  country  in  the  services  it  was  necessary 
for  them  to  render,  by  which  to  make  sure  of  an  abundant  supply  of 
the  materials  needed,  by  which  to  check  undertakings  that  could  for 
the  time  be  dispensed  with  and  stimulate  those  that  were  most 
serviceable  in  war,  by  which  to  gain  for  the  purchasing  departments 
of  the  government  a  certain  control  over  the  prices  of  essential 
articles  and  materials,  by  which  to  restrain  trade  with  alien  enemies, 
make  the  most  of  the  available  shipping  and  systematize  financial 
transactions,  both  public  and  private,  so  that  there  would  be  no 
unnecessary  conflict  or  confusion — by  which,  in  short,  to  put 
every  material  energy  of  the  country  in  harness  to  draw  the 
common  load  and  make  of  us  one  team  in  accomplishment  of  a 
great  task. 

"But  the  moment  we  knew  the  armistice  to  have  been  signed  we 
took  the  harness  off.  Raw  materials  upon  which  the  government 
had  kept  its  hand  for  fear  there  should  not  be  enough  for  the 
industries  that  supplied  the  armies  have  been  released,  and  put  into 
the  general  market  again  Great  industrial  plants  whose  whole 
output  and  machinery  had  been  taken  over  for  the  uses  of  the 
government  have  been  set  free  to  return  to  the  uses  to  which  they 
were  put  before  the  war  It  has  not  been  possible  to  remove  so 
readily  or  so  quickly  the  control  of  foodstuffs  and  of  shipping, 
because  the  world  has  still  to  be  fed  from  our  granaries  and  the 
ships  are  still  needed  to  send  supplies  to  our  men  oversea  and  to 
bring  the  men  back  as  fast  as  the  disturbed  conditions  on  the  other 
side  of  the  water  permit;  but  even  there  restraints  are  being 
relaxed  as  much  as  possible,  and  more  and  more  as  the  weeks  go  by. 


PRESIDENT'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  WAR         725 

"Never  before  have  there  been  agencies  in  existence  in  this 
country  which  knew  so  much  of  the  field  of  supply  of  labor,  and  of 
industry  as  the  War  Industries  Board,  the  War  Trade  Board,  the 
Labor  Department,  the  Food  Administration  and  the  Fuel  Adminis- 
tration have  known  since  then*  labors  became  thoroughly  systema- 
tized; and  they  have  not  been  isolated  agencies;  they  have  been 
directed  by  men  which  represented  the  permanent  departments  of 
the  government  and  so  have  been  the  centers  of  unified  and 
co-operative  action  It  has  been  the  policy  of  the  Executive, 
therefore,  since  the  armistice  was  assured  (which  is  hi  effect  a 
complete  submission  of  the  enemy)  to  put  the  knowledge  of  these 
bodies  at  the  disposal  of  the  businessmen  of  the  country  and  to 
offer  their  intelligent  mediation  at  every  point  and  in  every  matter 
where  it  was  desired.  It  is  surprising  how  fast  the  process  of 
return  to  a  peace  footing  has  moved  in  the  three  weeks  since  the 
fighting  stopped.  It  promises  to  outrun  any  inquiry  that  may 
be  instituted  and  any  aid  that  may  be  offered.  It  will  not  be  easy 
to  direct  it  any  better  than  it  will  direct  itself.  The  American  busi- 
ness man  is  of  quick  initiative.  .  .  . 

"I  welcome  this  occasion  to  announce  to  the  Congress  my 
purpose  to  join  hi  Paris  the  representatives  of  the  governments 
with  which  we  have  been  associated  in  the  war  against  the  Central 
Empires  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  with  them  the  main  features 
of  the  treaty  of  peace.  I  realize  the  great  inconveniences  that  will 
attend  my  leaving  the  country,  particularly  at  this  time,  but  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  my  paramount  duty  to  go  has  been  forced 
upon  me  by  considerations  which  I  hope  will  seem  as  conclusive  to 
you  as  they  have  seemed  to  me. 

"The  Allied  governments  have  accepted  the  bases  of  peace 
which  I  outlined  to  the  Congress  on  the  8th  of  January  last,  as  the 
Central  Empires  also  have,  and  very  reasonably  desire  my  personal 
counsel  in  their  interpretation  and  application,  and  it  is  highly 
desirable  that  I  should  give  it,  hi  order  that  the  sincere  desire  of  our 
government  to  contribute  without  selfish  purpose  of  any  kind  to 
settlements  that  will  be  of  common  benefit  to  all  the  nations-  con- 
cerned may  be  made  fully  manifest.  The  peace  settlements  which 
are  now  to  be  agreed  upon  are  of  transcendent  importance  both  to 
us  and  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  I  know  of  no  business  or  interest 
which  should  take  precedence  of  them.  The  gallant  men  of  our 


726  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

armed  forces  on  land  and  sea  have  consciously  fought  for  the  ideals 
which  they  knew  to  be  the  ideals  of  their  country;  I  have  sought  to 
express  those  ideals;  they  have  accepted  my  statements  of  them  as 
the  substance  of  their  own  thought  and  purpose,  as  the  associated 
governments  have  accepted  them;  I  owe  it  to  them  to  see  to  it, 
so  far  as  in  me  lies,  that  no  false  or  mistaken  interpretation  is  put 
upon  them,  and  no  possible  effort  omitted  to  realize  them.  It  is 
now  my  duty  to  play  my  full  part  in  making  good  what  they  offered 
their  life's  blood  to  obtain.  I  can  think  of  no  call  to  service  which 
could  transcend  this.  .  .  . 

"May  I  not  hope,  gentlemen  of  the  Congress,  that  in  the  delicate 
tasks  I  shall  have  to  perform  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea  in  my 
efforts  truly  and  faithfully  to  interpret  the  principles  and  purposes 
of  the  country  we  love,  I  may  have  the  encouragement  and  the 
added  strength  of  your  united  support?  I  realize  the  magnitude 
and  difficulty  of  the  duty  I  am  undertaking.  I  am  poignantly 
aware  of  its  grave  responsibilities.  I  am  the  servant  of  the  Nation. 
I  can  have  no  private  thought  or  purpose  of  my  own  hi  performing 
such  an  errand.  I  go  to  give  the  best  that  is  hi  me  to  the  common 
settlements  which  I  must  now  assist  hi  arriving  at  in  conference 
with  the  other -working  heads  of  the  associated  governments.  I  shall 
count  upon  your  friendly  countenance  and  encouragement.  I 
shall  not  be  inaccessible.  The  cables  and  the  wireless  will  render 
me  available  for  any  counsel  or  service  you  may  desire  of  me,  and 
I  shall  be  happy  in  the  thought  that  I  am  constantly  in  touch  with 
the  weighty  matters  of  domestic  policy  with  which  we  shall  have  to 
deal.  I  shall  make  my  absence  as  brief  as  possible  and  shall  hope 
to  return  with  the  happy  assurance  that  it  has  been  possible  to 
translate  into  action  the  great  ideals  for  which  America  has  striven." 


©  Harris  &  Swing. 

WOODROW  WILSON 

President  of  the  United  States  during  the  whole  course  of  the  war  and  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  its  army  and  navy.  On  November  11,  1918,  he  signalized  the  end  of  the 
war  iii  a  proclamation  in  which  he  said: — "My  Fellow-Countrymen: — The  armistice 
was  signed  this  morning.  Everything  for  which  America  fought  has  been  accomplished." 


Summarized  Chronology  of  the  War 


1914 


June 

28. — Assassination  of  Archduke  Fran- 
cis Ferdinand,  heir  to  throne  of  Austria- 
Hungary,  and  his  wife  at  Sarajevo, 
Bosnia. 

July 

28. — Austria-Hungary  declares  war  on 
Serbia. 

29. — Russian  mobilization  ordered. 

August 

1. — Germany  declares  war  on  Russia. 

1. — France  orders  mobilization. 

2. — Germany  demands  free  passage 
through  Belgium. 

3. — Germany  declares  war  on  France. 

3. — Belgium  rejects  Germany's  demand. 

4. — Germany  at  war  with  Belgium. 
Troops  under  Gen.  Von  Kluck  cross  bor- 
der. Halted  at  Liege. 

4. — Great  Britain  at  war  with  Ger- 
many. Kitchener  becomes  Secretary  of 
War. 

5. — President  Wilson  tenders  good  of- 
fices of  United  States  in  interests  of  peace. 

6. — Austria-Hungary  at  war  with  Rus- 
sia. 

7. — French  forces  invade  Alsace.  Gen. 
Joffre  in  supreme  command  of  French 
army. 

7. — Montenegro  at  war  with  Austria. 

7. — Great  Britain's  Expeditionary 
Force  lands  at  Ostend,  Calais  and  Dun- 
kirk. 

8. — British  seize  German  Togoland. 

8. — Serbia  at  war  with  Germany. 

8. — Portugal  announces  readiness  to 
stand  by  alliance  with  England. 

11. — German  cruisers  Ooeben  and 
Sreslau  enter  Dardanelles  and  are  pur- 
chased by  Turkey. 

12. — Great  Britain  at  war  with  Austria- 
Hungary. 

12. — Montenegro  at  war  with  Germany. 

17. — Belgian  capital  removed  from 
Brussels  to  Antwerp. 

19. — Canadian  Parliament  authorizes 
raising  expeditionary  force. 

20. — Germans  occupy  Brussels. 

23. — Japan  at  war  with  Germany.  Be- 
gins attack  on  Tsingtau. 

24. — Germans  enter  France  near  Lille. 

25. — Austria  at  war  with  Japan. 

26. — Louvain  sacked  and  burned  by 
Germans.  Viviani  becomes  premier  of 
France. 


28. — British  fleet  sinks  three  German 
cruisers  and  two  destroyers  off  Heligo- 
land. 

28. — Austria  declares  war  on  Belgium. 

29. — Russians  invest  Konigsberg,  Eust 
Prussia.  New  Zealanders  seize  German 
Samoa. 

30. — Amiens  occupied  by  Germans. 

31. — Russian  army  of  invasion  in  East 
Prussia  defeated  at  Tannenberg  by  Ger- 
mans under  Von  Hindenburg. 

31. — St.  Petersburg  changed  to  Petro- 
grad  by  imperial  decree. 

September 

3. — Paris  placed  in  state  of  siege ;  gov- 
ernment transferred  to  Bordeaux. 

3. — Lemberg,  Gallicia,  occupied  by  Rus- 
sians. 

4. — Germans  occupy  Rheims. 

6-10. — Battle  of  Marne.  Von  Kluck  is 
beaten  by  Gen.  Joffre,  and  the  German 
army  retreats  from  Paris  to  the  Soissons- 
Rheims  line. 

10. — Emden,  German  cruiser,  carries 
out  raids  in  Bay  of  Bengal. 

14. — French  reoccupy  Amiens  and 
Rheims. 

19. — British  forces  begin  operations  in 
Southwest  Africa. 

20. — Rheims  cathedral  shelled  by  Ger- 
mans. 

24. — Allies  occupy  Peronne. 

25. — Australians  seize  German  New 
Guinea. 

28. — Anglo-French  forces  invade  Ger- 
man colony  of  Kamerun. 

29. — Antwerp  bombardment  begins. 

October 

2. — British  Admiralty  announces  inten- 
tion to  mine  North  Sea  areas. 

6. — Japan  seizes  Marshall  Islands  in 
Pacific. 

9. — Antwerp  surrenders  to  Germans. 
Government  removed  to  Ostend. 

13. — British  occupy  Ypres. 

14. — Canadian  Expeditionary  Force  of 
32,000  men  lands  at  Plymouth. 

15. — Germans  occupy  Ostend.  Belgian 
government  removed  to  Havre,  France. 

November 

1. — Monmouth  and  Good  Hope,  British 
cruisers,  are  sunk  by  German  squadron 
off  Chile  under  command  of  Admiral  Von 
Spec. 


729 


730 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


5. — Great  Britain  and  France  declare 
war  on  Turkey. 

5.— Cyprus  annexed  by  Great  Britain. 

7. — German  garrison  of  Tsingtau  sur- 
renders to  Japanese. 

9. — Emden,  German  cruiser,  which  had 
carried  out  raiding  operations  for  two 
months,  is  destroyed  by  Australian  cruiser 
Sydney  off  the  Cocos  Islands,  southwest 
of  Java. 

16. — Prohibition  of  sale  of  intoxicants 
in  Russia  enforced. 

27. — Czernowitz,  capital  of  Bukowina, 
captured  by  Russians. 


December 

2. — Belgrade  occupied  by  Austrians. 

3. — Cracow  bombarded  by  Russians. 

8.— Off  the  Falkland  Isles,  British 
squadron  under  command  of  Rear- Admiral 
Sturdee,  sinks  three  of  the  German  cruis- 
ers which  had  destroyed  the  Good  Hope 
and  Monmouth  on  Nov.  1.  The  Dresden 
escapes. 

14. — Austrians  evacuate  Belgrade. 

16. — German  squadron  bombards  Har- 
tlepool,  Scarborough  and  Whitby  on  east 
coast  of  England. 

23.— Siege  of  Cracow  raised.  Russians 
retire. 


1915 


January 

24. — British  fleet  puts  to  flight  a  Ger- 
man squadron  in  North  Sea  and  sinks  the 
battle  cruiser  Bliicher. 

28. — American  bark,  William  P.  Frye, 
sunk  by  German  cruiser  in  South  Atlan- 
tic. 

February 

10. — Russians  defeated  by  Germans  in 
Battle  of  Masurian  Lakes. 

18. — German  submarine  "blockade"  of 
British  Isles  begins. 

25. — Allied  fleet  destroys  outer  forts  of 
Dardanelles. 

March 

2. — Allied  troops  land  at  Kum-Kale,  on 
Asiatic  side  of  Dardanelles. 

10. — British  take  Neuve  Chapelle  in 
Flanders  battle. 

14. — Dresden,  German  raiding  cruiser, 
is  sunk  by  British  squadron  off  the 
Chilean  coast. 

22. — Austrian  fortress  of  Przmysl  sur- 
renders to  Russians. 

April 

22. — Poison  gas  first  used  by  Germans 
in  attack  on  Canadians  at  Ypres,  Belgium. 

May 

1. — American  steamer  Chilflight  torpe- 
doed off  Scilly  Isles  by  German  subma- 
rine ;  3  lives  lost. 

2. — British  South  Africa  troops  under 
General  Botha  capture  Otymbingue,  Ger- 
man Southwest  Africa. 

7. — Germans  capture  Libau,  Russian 
Baltic  port. 

7. — Lusitania,  Cunard  liner,  sunk  by 
German  submarine  off  Kinsale  Head, 
Irish  coast,  with  loss  of  1152  lives;  102 
Americans. 

23. — Italy  declares  war  on  Austria- 
Hungary  and  begins  invasion  on  a  60- 
mile  front. 

24. — American  steamer  "NebrasTcan  tor- 
pedoed by  German  ^  submarine  off  Irish 
coast,  but  reaches  Liverpool  in  safety. 

31. — German  Zeppelins  bombard  sub- 
orbs  of  London. 


June 


1. — Germany  apologizes  for  attack  on 
Gulflight  and  offers  reparation. 

3. — Austrians  recapture  Przmysl. 

3. — British  forces  operating  on  Tigris 
capture  Kut-el-Amara. 

4-6. — German  aircraft  bombs  English 
towns. 

7. — Bryan,  TJ.  S.  Secretary  of  State, 
resigns. 

15. — Allied  aircraft  bombs  Karlsruhe, 
Baden,  in  retaliation. 

22. — Lemberg  recaptured  by  Austrians. 

26. — Montenegrins  enter  Scutari,  Al- 
bania. 

July 

9. — German  Southwest  Africa  surren- 
ders to  British  South  African  troops  un- 
der Gen.  Botha. 

25. — American  steamer,  Leelanaw, 
Archangel  to  Belfast  with  flax,  torpedoed 
off  Scotland. 

31. — Baden  bombarded  by  French  air- 
craft. 

August 

5. — Warsaw  captured  by  Germans. 

6. — Ivangorod  occupied  by  Austrians. 

6. — Gallipoli  Peninsula  campaign  enters 
a  second  stage  with  the  debarkation  of  a 
new  force  of  British  troops  in  Suvla  Bay, 
on  the  west  of  the  peninsula. 

8. — Russians  defeat  German  fleet  of 
9  battleships  and  12  cruisers  at  entrance 
of  Gulf  of  Riga. 

19. — Arabic,  White  Star  liner,  sunk  by 
submarine  off  Fastnet;  44  lives  lost;  2 
Americans. 

25. — Brest-Litovsk,  Russian  fortress, 
captured  by  Austro-Germans. 

28. — Italians  reach  Cima  Cista,  north- 
east of  Trent. 

30. — British  submarine  attacks  Con- 
stantinople and  damages  the  Galata 
Bridge. 

31. — Lutsk,  Russian  fortress,  captured 
by  Austrians. 

September 

2. — Grodno,  Russian  fortress,  occupied 
by  Germans. 


SUMMARIZED  CHRONOLOGY 


731 


6. — Czar  Nicholas  of  Russia  assumes 
command  of  Russian  armies.  Grand  Duke 
Nicholas  is  transferred  to  the  Caucasus. 

15. — Pinsk  occupied  by  Germans. 

18. — Vilna  evacuated  by  Russia. 

24. — Lutsk  recaptured  by  Russians. 

25. — Allies  open  offensive  on  western 
front  and  occupy  Lens. 

27. — Lutsk  again  falls  to  Germans. 

October 

5. — Greece  becomes  political  storm  cen- 
ter. Franco-British  force  lands  at  Salon- 
ika and  Greek  ministry  resigns. 

9. — Belgrade  again  occupied  by  Austro- 
Germans. 

11. — Zaimis,  new  Greek  premier,  an- 
nounces policy  of  armed  neutrality. 

12. — Edith  Cavell,  English  nurse,  shot 
by  Germans  for  aiding  British  prisoners 
to  escape  from  Belgium. 

13. — London  bombarded  by  Zeppelins  ; 
55  persons  killed  ;  114  injured. 

14. — Bulgaria  at  war  with  Serbia. 

14. — Italians  capture  Pregasina,  on  the 
Trentino  frontier. 

15. — Great  Britain  declares  war  on 
Bulgaria. 

17. — France  at  war  with  Bulgaria. 

18. — Bulgarians  cut  the  Nish-Salonika 
railroad  at  Vranja. 

19. — Italy  and  Russia  at  war  with 
Bulgaria. 

22. — Uskub  occupied  by  Bulgarians. 

28. — Pirot  captured  by  Bulgarians. 

29. — Briand  becomes  premier  of  France, 
succeeding  Viviani. 


November 

5. — Nish,  Serbian  war  capital,  captured 
by  Bulgarians. 

9. — Ancona,  Italian  liner,  torpedoed  in 
Mediterranean. 

17. — Anglo-French  war  council  holds 
first  meeting  in  Paris. 

20. — Novibazar  occupied  by  German 
troops. 

22.-j-Ctesiphon,  near  Bagdad,  captured 
by  British  forces  in  Asia  Minor. 

23. — Italians  drive  Austrians  from  posi- 
tions on  Carso  Plateau. 

24. — Serbian  government  transferred  to 
Scutari,  Albania. 

December 

1. — British  Mesopotamian  forces  retire 
to  Kut-el-AmanQ. 

2. — Monastir  evacuated  by  Serbians. 

4. — Henry  Ford,  with  large  party  of 
peace  advocates,  sails  for  Europe  on  char- 
tered steamer  Oscar  II,  with  the  object  of 
ending  the  war. 

13. — Serbia  in  hands  of  enemy,  Allied 
forces  abandoning  last  positions  and  re- 
tiring across  Greek  frontier. 

15. — Gen.  Sir  Douglas  Haig  succeeds 
Field  Marshal  Sir  John  French  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  British  forces  in 
France. 

20. — Dardanelles  expedition  ends ;  Brit- 
ish troops  begin  withdrawal  from  posi- 
tions on  Suvla  Bay  and  Gallipoli  Penin- 
sula. 

22. — Henry  Ford  leaves  his  peace  party 
at  Christiania  and  returns  to  the  United 
States. 


1916 


January 

11. — Greek  island  of  Corfu  occupied  by 
French. 

13. — Cettinje,  capital  of  Montenegro, 
occupied  by  Austrians. 

23. — Scutari,  Albania,  taken  by  Aus- 
trians. 

29-31. — German  Zeppelins  bomb  Paris 
and  towns  in  England. 

February 

1. — Appam,  British  liner,  is  brought 
into  Norfolk,  Va.,  by  German  prize  crew. 

10. — British  conscription  law  goes  into 
effect. 

16. — Erzerum,  in  Turkish  Armenia, 
captured  by  Russians  under  Grand  Duke 
Nicholas. 

19. — Kamerun,  German  colony  in 
Africa,  conquered  by  British  forces. 

21. — Battle  of  Verdun  begins.  Germans 
take  Haumont. 

25. — Fort  Douaumont  falls  to  Germans 
in  Verdun  battle. 

27. — Durazzo,  Albania,  occupied  by 
Austrians. 


March 


5. — Moewe,  German  raider,  reaches 
home  port  after  a  cruise  of  several  months. 

9. — Germany  declares  war  on  Portugal 
on  the  latter's  refusal  to  give  up  seized 
ships. 

15. — Austria-Hungary  at  war  with 
Portugal. 

24. — Sussex,  French  cross-channel  steam- 
er, with  many  Americans  aboard,  sunk  by 
submarine  off  Dieppe.  No  Americans 
lost. 

31. — Melancourt  taken  by  Germans  in 
Verdun  Battle. 

April 

18. — Trebizond,  Turkish  Black  S^a 
port,  captured  by  Russians. 

19. — President  Wilson  publicly  warns 
Germany  not  to  pursue  submarine  policy. 

20. — Russian  troops  landed  at  Mar- 
seilles for  service  on  French  front. 

24. — Irish  rebellion  begins  in  Dublin. 
Republic  declared.  Patrick  Pearse  ;m- 
nounced  as  first  president. 

29. — British  force  of  9000  men,  under 


732 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


Gen.    Townshend,    besieged    in    Kut-el- 
Amara,  surrenders  to  Turks. 

30. — Irish  rebellion  ends  with  uncondi- 
tional surrender  of  Pearse  and  other  lead- 
ers, who  are  tried  by  court-martial  and 
executed. 

May 

8. — Cymric,  White  Star  liner,  torpe- 
doed off  Irish  coast. 

14. — Italian  positions  penetrated  by 
Austrians. 

15. — Vimy  Ridge  gained  by  British. 

26. — Bulgarians  invade  Greece  and  oc- 
cupy forts  on  the  Struma. 

31. — Jutla"(?  naval  battle;  British  and 
German  fleets  engaged ;  heavy  losses  on 
both  sides. 

June 

5. — Kitchener,  British  Secretary  of 
War,  loses  his  life  when  the  cruiser 
Hampshire,  on  which  he  was  voyaging  to 
Russia,  is  sunk  off  the  Orkney  Islands, 
g«otlan;l. 

6. — Germans  capture  Fort  Vaux  in 
Verdun  attack. 

8. — Lutsk,  Russian  fortress,  recaptured 
from  Germans. 

17.— Czernowitz,  capital  of  Bukowina, 
occupied  by  Russians. 

21. — Allies  demand  Greek  demobiliza- 
tion. 

27. — King  Constantino  orders  demobili- 
zat'  u.  of  Greek  army. 

'/.'.-. — Italians  storm  Monte  Trappola,  in 
the  Trentino  district. 

July 

1. — British  and  French  attack  north 
ind  south  of  the  Somme. 

9. — Deutschland,  German  submarine 
ireight  boat,  lands  at  Baltimore,  Md. 

14. — British  penetrate  German  second 
line,  using  cavalry. 

15. — Longueval  captured  by  British. 

25. — Pozteres  occupied  by  British. 

30. — British  and  French  advance  be- 
tween Delville  Wood  and  the  Somme. 

August 

3. — French  recapture  Fleury. 

9. — Italians  enter  Goritzia. 

10. — Stanislau  occupied  by  Russians. 

25. — Kayala,  Greek  seaport  town,  taken 
by  Bulgarians. 

27. — Roumania  declares  war  on  Austria- 
Hungary. 

28. — Italy  at  war  with  Germany. 

28. — Germany  at  war  with  Roumania. 


30. — Roumanians  advance  into  Tran- 
sylvania. 

31. — Bulgaria  at  war  with  Roumania. 
Turkey  at  war  with  Roumania. 

September 

2. — Bulgarian  forces  invade  Roumania 
along  the  Dobrudja  frontier. 

13. — Italians  defeat  Austrians  on  the 
Carso. 

15. — British  capture  Flers,  Courcelette, 
and  other  German  positions  on  western 
front,  using  '  tanks.' 

26. — Combles  and  Thiepval  captured  by 
British  and  French. 

29. — Roumanians  begin  retreat  from 
Transylvania. 

October 

24. — Fort  Douaumont  recaptured  by 
French. 

November 

1. — Deutschland,  German  merchant  sub- 
marine, arrives  at  New  London,  Conn.,  on 
second  voyage. 

2. — Fort  Vaux  evacuated  by  Germans. 

7. — Wood  row  Wilson  re-elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

13. — British  advance  along  the  Ancre. 

19. — Monastir  evacuated  by  Bulgarians 
and  Germans. 

_21. — Britannic,  mammoth  British  hos- 
pital ship,  sunk  by  mine  in  Aegean  Sea. 

22. — Emperor  Franz  Josef  of  Austria- 
Hungary,  dies.  Succeeded  by  Charles  I. 

23. — German  warships  bombard  Eng- 
lish coast. 

28. — Roumanian  government  is  trans- 
ferred to  Jassy. 

29. — Minncwaska,  Atlantic  transport 
liner,  sunk  by  mine  in  Mediterranean. 

December 

1. — Allied  troops  enter  Athens  to  insist 
upon  surrender  of  Greek  arms  and  muni- 
tions. 

6. — Bucharest,  capital  of  Roumania, 
captured  by  Austro-Germans. 

7. — David  Lloyd  George  succeeds  As- 
quith  as  premier  of  England. 

15. — French     complete     recapture     of 

§  round  taken  by  Germans  in  Verdun 
attle. 

18. — President  Wilson  makes  peace 
overtures  to  belligerents. 

26. — Germany  replies  to  President's 
note  and  suggests  a  peace  conference. 

30. — French  government  on  behalf  of 
Entente  Allies  replies  to  President  Wil- 
son's note  and  refuses  to  discuss  peace 
till  Germany  agrees  to  give  '  restitution, 
reparation  and  guarantees.' 


1917 

January  22. — President  Wilson  suggests  to  the 

1.— Turkey  declares  its  independence  of  belligerents  a  '  peace  without  victory.' 

suzerainty  of  European  powers.  31. — Germany  announces  intention  of 

1. — Ivernia,  Cunard  liner,  is  sunk  in  sinking  all  vessels  in  war  zone  around 

Mediterranean.  British  Isles. 


SUMMARIZED   CHRONOLOGY 


733 


February 

3. — United  States  severs  diplomatic  re- 
lations with  Germany.  Count  Von  Bern- 
storff  is  handed  his  passports. 

7. — California,  Anchor  liner,  is  sunk  off 
Irish  coast. 

13. — Afric,  White  Star  liner,  sunk  by 
submarine. 

17. — British  troops  on  the  Ancre  cap- 
ture German  positions. 

25. — Laconia,  Cunard  liner,  sunk  off 
Irish  coast. 

26. — Kut-el-Amara  recaptured  from 
Turks  by  new  British  Mesopotamian  ex- 
pedition under  command  of  Gen.  Sir  Stan- 
ley Maude. 

28. — United  States  government  makes 
public  a  communication  from  Germany  to 
Mexico  proposing  an  alliance,  and  offering 
as  a  reward  the  return  of  Mexico's  lost 
territory  in  Texas,  New  Mexico  and  Ari- 
zona. 

28. — Submarine  campaign  of  Germans 
results  in  the  sinking  of  134  vessels  during 
February. 

March 

3. — British  advance  on  Bapaume. 

3. — Mexico  denies  having  received  an 
offer  from  Germany  suggesting  an  alli- 
ance. 

8. — Count  Ferdinand  von  Zeppelin  dies. 

10. — Russian  Czar  suspends  sittings  of 
the  Duma. 

11. — Bagdad  captured  by  British  forces 
under  Gen.  Maude. 

11. — Revolutionary  movement  starts  in 
Petrograd. 

14. — China  breaks  with  Germany. 

15. — Czar  Nicholas  abdicates.  Prince 
Lvoff  heads  new  cabinet. 

17. — Bapaume  falls  to  British.  Roye 
and  Lassigny  occupied  by  French. 

18. — Peronne,  Chaulnes,  Nesle  and 
Noyon  evacuated  by  Germans,  who  retire 
on  an  85-mile  front. 

18. — City  of  Memphis,  Illinois,  and 
Vigilancia,  American  ships,  torpedoed. 

19. — Alexander  Ribot  becomes  French 
premier,  succeeding  Briand. 

21. — Healdton,  American  ship,  bound 
from  Philadelphia  to  Rotterdam,  sunk 
without  warning :  21  men  lost. 

26-31. — British  advance  on  Cambrai. 

April 

1. — Aztec,  American  armed  ship,  sunk 
in  submarine  zone. 

5. — Missourian,  American  steamer,  sunk 
in  Mediterranean. 

6. — United  States  declares  war  on 
Germany. 

7. — Cuba  and  Panama  at  war  with 
Germany. 

8. — Austria-Hungary  breaks  with  Unit- 
ed States. 

9. — Germans  retreat  before  British  on 
long  front. 

9. — Bolivia  breaks  with  Germany. 

13. — Vimy,  Givenehy,  Bailleul  and  posi- 
tions about  Lens  taken  by  Canadians. 

20. — Turkey  breaks  with  United  States. 


May 

9. — Liberia  breaks  with  Germany. 

11. — Russian  Council  of  Workmen's 
and  Soldiers'  Delegates  demands  peace 
conference. 

15. — Gen.  Petain  succeeds  Gen.  Nivelle 
as  Commander-in-Chief  of  French  armies. 
Gen.  Foch  is  appointed  Chief  of  Staff. 

16. — Bullecourt  captured  by  British  in 
the  Arras  battles. 

17. — Honduras  breaks  with  Germany. 

18. — Conscription  bill  signed  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson. 

19. — Nicaragua  breaks  with  Germany. 

22-26. — Italians  advance  on  the  Carso. 

June 

4. — Senator  Root  arrives  in  Russia  at 
head  of  commission  appointed  by  Presi- 
dent. 

5. — Registration  day  for  new  draft 
army  in  United  States. 

7. — Messines-Wytschaete  ridge  in  Eng- 
lish hands. 

8. — Gen.  Perching,  Commander-in-Chief 
of  American  expeditionary  force,  arrives 
in  England  en  route  to  France. 

18. — Haiti  breaks  with  Germany. 

July 

1. — Russians  begin  offensive  in  Gallicia, 
Kerensky,  minister  of  war,  leading  in 
person. 

>  3. — American    expeditionary    force    ar- 
rives in  France. 

6. — Canadian  House  of  Commons  passes 
Compulsory  Military  Service  Bill. 

12. — King  Constantino  of  Greece  abdi- 
cates in  favor  of  his  second  son,  Alex- 
ander. 

14. — Bethmann-Hollweg,  German  Chan- 
cellor, resigns ;  succeeded  by  Dr.  Georg 
Michaelis. 

16-23. — Retreat  of  Russians  on  a  front 
of  155  miles. 

20. — Alexander  Kerensky  becomes  Rus- 
sian premier,  succeeding  Lvoff. 

20. — Drawing  of  draft  numbers  for 
American  conscript  army  begins. 

22. — Siam  at  war  with  Germany  and 
Austria. 

24. — Austro-Germans  retake  Stanislau. 

31. — Franco-British  attack  penetrates 
German  lines  on  a  20-mile  front. 

August 

1. — Pope  Benedict  XV  makes  plea  for 
peace  on  a  basis  of  no  annexation,  no 
indemnity. 

3. — Czernowitz  captured  by  Austro- 
Germans. 

7. — Liberia  at  war  with  Germany. 

8.— ^Canadian  Conscription  Bill  passes 
its  third  reading  in  Senate. 

14. — China  at  war  with  Germany  and 
Austria-Hungary. 

15. — St.  Quentin  Cathedral  destroyed 
by  Germans. 

15. — Canadian  troops  capture  Hill  70, 
dominating  Lens. 


734 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


19. — Italians  cross  the  Isonzo  and  take 
Austrian  positions. 

28. — Pope  Benedict's  peace  plea  rejected 
by  President  Wilson. 


September 

3. — Riga  captured  by  Germans. 

5. — New  American  National  Army  be- 
gins to  assemble  in  the  different  canton- 
ments. 

7. — MinneJiaha,  Atlantic  Transport  lin- 
er, sunk  off  Irish  coast. 

12. — Argentine  dismisses  Von  Luxburg, 
German  minister,  on  charges  of  improper 
conduct  made  public  by  United  States 
government. 

14. — Paul  Painlev6  becomes  French 
premier,  succeeding  Ribot. 

16. — Russia  proclaimed  a  republic  by 
Kerensky. 

20. — Costa  Rica  breaks  with  Germany. 

21. — Gen.  Tasker  H.  Bliss  named  Chief 
of  Staff  of  the  United  States  Army. 

25. — Guynemer,  famous  French  flier, 
killed. 

26. — Zonnebeke,  Polygon  Wood  and 
Tower  Hamlets,  east  of  Ypres,  taken  by 
British. 

28. — William  D.  Haywood,  secretary, 
and  100  members  of  the  Industrial  Work- 
ers of  the  World  arrested  for  sedition. 

29. — Turkish  Mesopotamian  army,  un- 
der Ahmed  Bey,  captured  by  British. 

October 

6. — Peru  and  Uruguay  break  with  Ger- 
many. 

9. — Poelcapelle  and  other  German  posi- 
tions captured  in  Franco-British  attack. 

12-16.— Oesel  and  Dago,  Russian  islands 
in  Gulf  of  Riga,  captured  by  Germans. 

17. — Antilles,  American  transport,  west- 
bound from  France,  sunk  by  submarine; 
67  lost. 

18.— Moon  Island,  in  the  Gulf  of  Riga, 
taken  by  Germans. 

23. — American  troops  in  France  fire 
their  first  shot  in  trench  warfare. 

23. — French  advance  northeast  of  Sois- 
sons. 

24. — Austro-Germans  begin  great  of- 
fensive on  Italian  positions. 

25. — Italians  retreat  across  the  Isonzo 
and  evacuate  the  Bainsizza  Plateau. 

26. — Brazil  at  war  with  Germany. 

27. — Goritzia  recaptured  by  Austro- 
Germans. 

30. — Michaelis,  German  Chancellor,  re- 
signs ;  succeeded  by  Count  George  F. 
von  Hertling. 

31. — Italians  retreat  to  the  Taglia- 
mento. 

31. — Beersheba,  in  Palestine,  occupied 
by  British. 


November 

1. — Germans  abandon  position  on 
Chemin  des  Dames. 

3. — Americans  in  trenches  suffer  20 
casualties  in  German  attacks. 

5. — Italians  abandon  Tagliamento  line 
and  retire  on  a  93-mile  front  in  the  Carnic 
Alps. 

6. — Passchendaele  captured  by  Cana- 
dians. 

6. — British  Mesopotamian  forces  reach 
Tekrit,  100  miles  northwest  of  Bagdad. 

7. — The  Russian  Bolsheviki,  led  by  Le- 
nine  and  Trotzsky,  seize  Petrograd  and 
depose  Kerensky. 

8. — Gen.  Diaz  succeeds  Gen.  Cadorna 
as  Commander-in-Chief  of  Italian  armies. 

9. — Italians  retreat  to  the  Piave. 
.  10. — Lenin  e  becomes  Premier  of  Rus- 
sia, succeeding  Kerensky. 

.15. — Georges  Clemenceau  becomes  Pre- 
mier of  France,  succeeding  Painlevl. 

18. — Major  General  Maude,  captor  of 
Bagdad,  dies  in  Mesopotamia. 

21. — Ribecourt,  Flesquieres,  Havrin- 
cpurt,  Marcoing  and  other  German  posi- 
tions captured  by  British. 

23. — Italians  repulse  Germans  on  the 
whole  front  from  the  Asiago  Plateau  to 
the  Brenta  River. 

24. — Cambrai  menaced  by  British,  who 
approach  within  three  miles,  capturing 
Bourlou  Wood. 

December 

1. — German  East  Africa  reported  com- 
pletely conquered. 

1. — Allies'  Supreme  War  Council,  rep- 
resenting the  United  States,  France, 
Great  Britain  and  Italy,  holds  first  meet- 
ing at  Versailles. 

3. — Russian  Bolsheviki  arrange  armi- 
stice with  Germans. 

5. — British  retire  from  Bourlon  Wood, 
Graincourt  and  other  positions  west  of 
Cambrai. 

6. — Jacob  Jones,  American  destroyer, 
sunk  by  submarine  in  European  waters. 

6. — Steamer  Mont  Blanc,  loaded  with 
munitions,  explodes  in  collision  with  the 
Imo  in  Halifax  harbor ;  1500  persons  are 
killed. 

7. — Finland  declares  independence. 

8. — Jerusalem,  held  by  the  Turks  for 
673  years,  surrenders  to  British,  under 
Gen.  Allenby. 

8. — Ecuador  breaks  with  Germany. 

10. — Panama  at  war  with  Austria- 
Hungary. 

11. — United  States  at  war  with  Austria- 
Hungary. 

15. — Armistice  signed  between  Germany 
and  Russia  at  Brest-Litovsk. 

17. — Coalition  government  of  Sir  Rob- 
ert Borden  is  returned  and  conscription 
confirmed  in  Canada. 


SUMMARIZED  CHRONOLOGY 


735 


1918 


January 

14. — Premier  Clemenceau  orders  arrest 
of  former  Premier  Caillaux  on  high  trea- 
son charge. 

19. — American  troops  take  over  sector 
northwest  of  Toul. 

29. — Italians  capture  Monte  di  val 
Belle. 

February 

1. — Argentine  Minister  of  War  recalls 
military  attaches  from  Berlin  and  Vienna. 

6. — Tuscania,  American  transport,  tor- 
pedoed off  coast  of  Ireland  ;  101  lost. 

22. — American  troops  in  Chemin  des 
Dames  sector. 

26. — British  hospital  ship,  Glenart  Cas- 
tle, torpedoed. 

27. — Japan  proposes  joint  military  op- 
erations with  Allies  in  Siberia. 

March 

1. — Americans  gain  signal  victory  in 
salient  north  of  Toul. 

3. — Peace  treaty  between  Bolshevik 
government  of  Russia  and  the  Central 
Powers  signed  at  Brest-Litovsk. 

4. — Treaty  signed  between  Germany 
and  Finland. 

5. — Rumania  signs  preliminary  treaty 
of  peace  with  Central  Powers. 

9. — Russian  capital  moved  from  Petro- 
grad  to  Moscow. 

14. — Russo-German  peace  treaty  rati- 
fied by  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  at 
Moscow. 

20. — President  Wilson  orders  all  Hol- 
land ships  in  American  ports  taken  over. 

21. — Germans  begin  great  drive  on  50- 
mile  front  from  Arras  to  La  Fere.  Bom- 
bardment of  Paris  by  German  long-range 
gun  from  a  distance  of  76  miles. 

24. — Peronne,  Ham  and  Chauny  evacu- 
ated by  Allies. 

25. — Bapaume  and  Nesle  occupied  by 
Germans. 

29. — General  Foch  chosen  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  all  Allied  forces. 

April 

5. — Japanese  forces  landed  at  Vladi- 
vostok. 

9. — Second  German  drive  begun  in 
Flanders. 

10. — First  German  drive  halted  before 
Amiens  after  maximum  advance  of  35 
miles. 

14. — United  States  Senator  Stone,  of 
Missouri,  chairman  of  Committee  on  For- 
eign Relations,  dies. 

15.— rSecond  German  drive  halted  before 
Ypres,  after  maximum  advance  of  10 
miles. 

16. — Bolo  Pasha,  Levantine  resident  in 
Paris,  executed  for  treason. 

21. — Guatemala  at  war  with  Germany. 

22. — Baron\  Von  Richthofen,  premier 
German  flier,  killed. 


23. — British  naval  forces  raid  Zeebrugge 
in  Belgium,  German  submarine  base,  and 
block  channel. 

May 

7. — Nicaragua  at  war  with  Germany 
and  her  allies. 

19. — Major  Raoul  Lufberry,  famous 
American  aviator,  killed. 

24. — Costa  Rica  at  war  with  Germany 
and  Austria-Hungary. 

27. — Third  German  drive  begins  on 
Aisne-Marne  front  of  30  miles  between 
Soissons  and  Rheitns. 

28. — Germans  sweep  on  beyond  the 
Chemin  des  Dames  and  cross  the  Vesle  at 
Fismes. 

28. — Cantigny  taken  by  Americans  in 
local  attack. 

29. — Soissons  evacuated  by  French. 

31. — Marne  River  crossed  by  Germans, 
who  reach  Chateau  Thierry,  40  miles 
from  Paris. 

31. — President  Lincoln,  American  trans- 
port, sunk. 

June 

2. — Schooner  Edward  H.  Cole  torpe- 
doed by  submarine  off  American  coast. 

3-6. — American  marines  and  regulars 
check  advance  of  Germans  at  Chateau 
Thierry  and  Neuilly  after  maximum  ad- 
vance of  Germans  of  32  miles.  Beginning 
of  American  co-operation  on  major  scale. 

9-14. — German  drive  on  Noyon-Mont- 
didier  front.  Maximum  advance,  5  miles. 

15-24. — Austrian  drive  on  Italian  front 
ends  in  complete  failure. 

30. — American  troops  in  France,  in  all 
departments  of  service,  number  1,019,115. 

July 

1. — Vaux  taken  by  Americans. 

3. — Mohammed  V,  Sultan  of  Turkey, 
dies. 

10. — Czecho-Slovaks,  aided  by  Allies, 
take  control  of  a  long  stretch  of  the 
Trans-Siberian  Railway. 

12. — Berat,  Austrian  base  in  Albania, 
captured  by  Italians. 

15. — Haiti  at  war  with  Germany. 

15. — Stonewall  defense  of  Chateau 
Thierry  blocks  new  German  drive  on 
Paris. 

16. — Nicholas  Romanoff,  ex-Czar  of 
Russia,  executed  at  Yekaterinburg. 

17. — Lieut.  Quentin  Roosevelt,  youngest 
son  of  ex-President  Roosevelt,  killed  in 
aerial  battle  near  Chateau  Thierry. 

18. — French  and  Americans  begin  coun- 
ter offensive  on  Marne-Aisne  front. 

19. — San  Diego,  United  States  cruiser, 
Bunk  off  Fire  Island. 

20. — CarpatMa,  Cunard  liner,  used  ns 
transport,  torpedoed  off  Irish  coast.  It 
was  the  Carpathia  that  saved  most  of  the 
survivors  of  the  Titanie  in  April,  1912. 

20.— Justicia,  giant  liner  used  as  troop- 
ship, is  sunk  off  Irish  coast. 


736 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


21. — German  submarine  sinks  three 
barges  off  Cape  Cod. 

23. — French  take  Oulchy-le-Chateau 
and  drive  the  Germans  back  ten  miles  be- 
tween the  Aisne  and  the  Marne. 

30. — A  Hi  pa  astride  the  Ourcq;  Ger- 
mans in  full  retreat  to  the  Vesle. 


August 

1. — Sergeant  Joyce  Kilmer,  American 
poet  and  critic,  aged  31,  dies  in  battle. 

2. — French  troops  recapture  Soissons. 

3. — President  Wilson  announces  new 
policy  regarding  Russia  and  agrees  to  co- 
operate with  Great  Britain,  France  and 
Japan  in  sending  forces  to  Murmansk, 
Archangel  and  Vladivostok. 

3. — Allies  sweep  on  between  Soissons 
and  Rheims,  driving  the  enemy  from  his 
base  at  Fismes  and  capturing  the  entire 
Aisne-Vesle  front. 

7. — Franco-American  troops  cross  the 
Vesle. 

8. — New  Allied  drive  begun  by  Field- 
Marshal  Haig  in  Picardy,  penetrating 
enemy  front  14  miles. 

10. — Montdidier     recaptured. 

13. — Lassigny  massif  taken  by  French. 

15. — Canadians  capture  Damery  and 
Parvillers,  northwest  of  Roye. 

29. — Noyon  and  Bapaume  fall  in  new 
Allied  advance. 

September 

1. — Australians  take  Peronne. 

1. — Americans  fight  for  the  first  time  on 
Belgian  SOL!  and  capture  Voormezeele. 

11. — Germans  are  driven  back  to  the 
Hindenburg  line  which  they  held  in  No- 
vember, 1917. 

12. — Registration  day  for  new  draft 
army  of  men  between  18  and  45  in  the 
United  States. 

13. — Americans  begin  vigorous  offense 
in  St.  Mihiel  Sector  on  40-mile  front. 

14. — St.  Mihiel  recaptured  from  Ger- 
mans. General  Pershing  announces  en- 
tire St.  Mihiel  salient  erased,  liberating 
more  than  150  square  miles  of  French  ter- 
ritory which  had  been  in  German  hands 
since  1914. 

20. — Nazareth  occuped  by  British  forces 
in  Palestine  under  Gen.  Allenby. 

23. — Bulgarian  armies  flee  before  com- 
bined attacks  of  British,  Greek,  Serbian, 
Italian  and  French. 

25. — British  take  40,000  prisoners  in 
Palestine  offensive. 

26. — Strumnitza,  Bulgaria,  occupied  by 
Allies. 

27. — Franco-Americans  in  drive  from 
Rheims  to  Verdun  take  30,000  prisoners. 

28. — Belgians  attack  enemy  from  Ypres 
to  North  Sea,  gaining  four  miles. 

29. — Bulgaria  surrenders  to  General 
d'Esperey,  the  Allied  commander. 

30. — British-Belgian  advance  reaches 
Roulers. 


October 

1. — St.  Quentin,  cornerstone  of  Hinden- 
burg line,  captured. 

1. — Damascus  occupied  by  British  in 
Palestine  campaign. 

2. — Lens  evacuated  by  Germans. 

3. — Albania  cleared  of  Austrians  by 
Italians. 

4. — Ferdinand,  king  of  Bulgaria,  abdi- 
cates ;  Boris  succeeds. 

5. — Prince  Maximilian,  new  German 
Chancellor,  pleads  with  President  Wilson 
to  ask  Allies  for  armistice. 

7. — Berry-au-Bac  taken  by  French. 

8. — President  Wilson  asks  whether 
German  Chancellor  speaks  for  people  or 
war  lords. 

9. — Cambrai  in  Allied  hands. 

10. — Leinster,  passenger  steamer,  sunk 
in  Irish  Channel  by  submarine ;  480  lives 
lost ;  final  German  atrocity  at  sea. 

11. — Americans  advance  through  Ar- 
gonne  forest. 

12. — German  foreign  secretary,  Solf, 
says  plea  for  armistice  is  made  in  name 
of  German  people;  agrees  to  evacuate  all 
foreign  soil. 

12. — Nish,  in  Serbia,  occupied  by  Allies. 

13. — Laon  and  La  Fere  abandoned  by 
Germans. 

13. — Grandpre  captured  by  Americans 
after  four  days'  battle. 

14. — President  Wilson  refers  Germans 
to  General  Foch  for  armistice  terms. 

16. — Lille  entered  by  British  patrols. 

17. — Ostend,  German  submarine  base, 
taken  by  land  and  sea  forces. 

17. — Douai  falls  to  Allies. 

19. — Bruges  and  Zeebrugge  taken  by 
Belgians  and  British. 

25. — Beginning  of  terrific  Italian  drive 
which  nets  50,000  prisoners  in  five  days. 

31. — Turkey  surrenders ;  armistice 
takes  effect  at  noon ;  conditions  include 
free  passage  of  Dardanelles. 


November 

1. — Clery-le-Grand  captured  by  Ameri- 
can troops  of  First  Army. 

3. — Americans  sweep  ahead  on  50-mile 
front  above  Verdun ;  enemy  in  full  retreat. 

3. — Official  reports  announce  capture  of 
362,350  Germans  since  July  15. 

3. — Austria  surrenders,  signing  armi- 
stice with  Italy  at  3  P.  M.  after  500,000 
prisoners  had  been  taken. 

4. — Americans  advance  beyond  Stenaj 
and  strike  at  Sedan. 

7. — American  Rainbow  Division  and 
parts  of  First  Division  enter  suburbs  of 
Sedan. 

8. — Heights  south  of  Sedan  seifmany 
Americans. 

9. — Maubeuge  captured  by  Allgjr 

10. — Canadians  take  Mons 
ible  advance. 

11. — Germany     surrenders1 
takes  effect  at  11  A.  M. 
hoisted  on  Sedan  front. 


eigu 

15.- 
Ypres,    . 
miles. 

16.— Bo, 
Paris,  execu 

21. — Guatt 

22. — Baron 
German  flier,  i> 


RS//, 


